Tracee Ellis Ross (born October 29, 1972) is an American actress.She is best known for her lead role as Joan Clayton on the UPN/CW series, Girlfriends. She is currently starring as Dr. Carla Reed on the new BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines. Born Tracee Joy Silberstein in Los Angeles, California, she is the daughter of singer/actress Diana Ross and music business manager Robert Ellis Silberstein. Actor and musician Evan Ross is her brother. Ross attended the Dalton School in Manhattan and the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. She was a model in her teens.She attended Brown University where she appeared in plays, and graduated in 1994 with a theatre degree. She later worked in the fashion industry, as a model and contributing fashion editor to Mirabella and New York magazine.