Mellody Hobson

President
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ariel Investment Trust

As president of Ariel Investments, Mellody is responsible for firm-wide management and strategic planning, overseeing all operations of Ariel’s business outside of research and portfolio management.  Additionally, she serves as chairman of the board of trustees for Ariel Investment Trust.  Mellody has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular financial contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America, a featured columnist in Black Enterprise magazine as well as a spokesperson for both the annual Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey and the 2009 Ariel/Hewitt study, “401(k) Plans in Living Color.”  Beyond her work at Ariel, Mellody is a director of three public companies:  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 the SEC Investor Advisory Committee, and is a director of various professional and civic organizations. Mellody earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy and is a former trustee of the University.