The Board of Trustees has been elected by the mutual fund shareholders and entrusted to safeguard the shareholders' best interests with respect to the Funds.
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Mario L. Baeza, Esq.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
The Baeza Group, LLC and Baeza & Co., LLC
Founder and Executive Chairman, V-Me Media, Inc.
Mario is chairman and CEO of The Baeza Group, LLC and Baeza & Co., LLC, an investment firm specializing in private equities aimed at the U.S. Hispanic market and hedge funds anchored in global macro strategies. He is also the founder and executive chairman of V-Me Media, Inc., a new national Spanish language television network. He is a former chairman and CEO of TCW/Latin America Partners, LLC, a private equity capital firm. He serves on the board of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Brown Shoe Company, Inc., Israel Discount Bank as well as various nonprofit organizations. Mario received a BA from Cornell University and a JD from Harvard Law School.
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James W. Compton
Retired President and Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Urban League
Jim is the former president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League and the Chicago Urban League Development Corporation, which have worked to eliminate racial discrimination and segregation since 1916. He is actively involved in various civic organizations and also serves on the board of directors of Seaway Bank & Trust Company and Commonwealth Edison Company, a unit of Exelon Corporation. Jim holds a BA from Morehouse College.
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William C. Dietrich
Former Executive Director
Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Inc.
Bill is the former executive director of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, Inc., an internationally known ecumenical training institute for contemplative living and leadership founded in 1973. He also serves on several nonprofit boards. Bill holds a BS degree from Georgetown University.
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Royce N. Flippin, Jr.
Lead Independent Trustee
President
Flippin Associates
Royce is president of Flippin Associates, a consulting firm for the public and private sectors. Formerly, he was director of athletics at Princeton University and director of both athletics and program advancement for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Royce is on the board of Technical Career Institute, NYC, TerraCycle, Inc. as well as several nonprofit institutions. He earned his AB from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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John G. Guffey, Jr.
President
Aurora Press, Inc.
John is the president of Aurora Press, Inc., a publisher of trade paperback books. Formerly, John served as director and treasurer of Silby Guffey & Co., Inc., a venture capital firm investing in early stage companies in the health care and environmental industries. He holds directorships with various nonprofit organizations, and he is also a founder of Calvert Group, Ltd. and a trustee of select Calvert mutual funds. John earned a BS from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
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Mellody Hobson
Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ariel Investment Trust
President, Ariel Investments
As president of Ariel Investments, Mellody is responsible for firmwide management and strategic planning. Additionally, she has become an important and nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular financial contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America and a spokesperson for the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey, which examines the investing habits of Black and White Americans. She is also a regular columnist for Black Enterprise. Mellody serves on the board of directors of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc.; The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation. She also serves on the Investment Company Institute’s board of governors and is a director of various professional and civic organizations. She is a former trustee of Princeton University and received her undergraduate degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy.
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Christopher G. Kennedy
President
Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.
Executive Officer
Vornado Realty Trust
Chris is president of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. which manages many prime properties including The Merchandise Mart in Chicago. He is also the executive officer of Vornado Realty Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust. Chris serves on a variety of civic and corporate boards, including Interface, Inc. He earned his BA from Boston College and his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
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Merrillyn J. Kosier
Executive Vice President, Ariel Investments
Chief Marketing Officer, Mutual Funds
Merrillyn is responsible for all aspects of the firm’s mutual fund business from marketing and shareholder services to Ariel’s online presence. Additionally, as chief marketing officer, she oversees all brand-building and client servicing efforts related to the funds. More specifically, she is in charge of media and public relations, investor communications and third-party distribution, including retirement platforms. Merrillyn also serves on the board of trustees for Ariel Investments and is president of Ariel Distributors, LLC. Prior to joining Ariel in 1999, she served as a senior executive at the Acorn family of funds and Kemper Financial Services. Merrillyn is the former chairman of the Mutual Fund Education Alliance as well as a current board member of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. She earned a BBA in marketing from Andrews University and an MBA from Loyola University Chicago, where she currently serves on the council of regents and the advisory board for the School of Business Administration.
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William M. Lewis, Jr.
Managing Director and Co-Chairman, Investment Banking
Lazard Ltd.
As a senior executive at Lazard Ltd, Bill advises blue-chip clients on a broad range of corporate and financial issues including merger and acquisition activity, deal origination and leveraged buyouts. Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Bill spent 24 years with Morgan Stanley in a variety of leadership positions, most recently as managing director and co-head of the firm’s Global Banking Department. Beyond his work at Lazard, Bill is actively involved in the broader community. He serves on a variety of boards including Phillips Academy and The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Additionally, he is a director of Darden Restaurants. Bill attended Harvard University where he earned both his undergraduate degree with honors and his MBA.
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H. Carl McCall
Principal
Convent Capital, LLC
Carl is a principal of Convent Capital, LLC a financial services advisory firm. He served as the comptroller of the State of New York between 1993 and 2002 until he became the state’s Democratic nominee for the 2002 governor’s race. Carl is also a former New York State senator; ambassador to the United Nations; commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; commissioner of New York’s Division of Human Rights; and president of the New York City Board of Education. He is a past board member of the NYSE. Carl graduated from Dartmouth College, Andover Newton Theological Seminary and studied at the University of Edinburgh.
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John W. Rogers, Jr.
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Ariel Investments
John is the founder, chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments. He specializes in small and mid-cap U.S. equities and serves as the lead portfolio manager of the firm’s flagship Ariel Fund, as well as its mid-cap value counterpart, Ariel Appreciation Fund. Additionally, as the firm’s chief investment officer, he manages Ariel’s small, small/mid and mid-cap institutional portfolios. John serves on the board of directors of Aon Corporation; Exelon Corporation and McDonald’s Corporation and is also actively involved in various local and national non-profit organizations. In 2008, he was awarded Princeton’s highest honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award, bestowed annually on a graduate whose career embodies a commitment to national service. Additionally, following the election of President Obama, John served as co-chair for the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009. He earned an AB in economics from Princeton University.
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James Williams
Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
J. Paul Getty Trust
As vice president and CIO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Jim is responsible for a $6 billion endowment which underwrites the Trust’s art museum, acquisitions, grants and art conservation activities. Previously, he served as president of Harbor Capital Advisors and the Harbor Mutual Funds. He also spent nearly thirty years with Ford Motor Company, most recently managing the company’s pension plan. Jim serves on the board of SEI Mutual Funds. He holds a BS in engineering from the University of Michigan and earned an MBA in finance from The University of Chicago.
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Bert N. Mitchell, C.P.A.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mitchell & Titus, LLP
Chairman Emeritus
(has no trustee duties or responsibilities)
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