In Black America Podcast: Ariel Investment With Mellody Hobson
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On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments—a Chicago-based mutual fund company and investment management firm founded in 1983. As President, Hobson is responsible for firm-wide management and strategic planning, overseeing all operations outside of research and portfolio management. Additionally, she serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the mutual funds.
Hobson has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. Her extensive media experience includes being a weekly financial contributor on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the featured consumer finance expert on Tom Joyner’s Money Mondays radio program, and a regular columnist for Black Enterprise. In 2004, the Wall Street Journal named her as one of its “50 Women to Watch. In addition, she is a spokesperson for the Ariel/Hewitt Study: 401 (k) Plans in Living Color and the Ariel/Schwab Black Investor Survey, both of which examines investing habits among minorities.
Beyond Ariel Investments, Hobson works with a variety of civic, corporate and professional institutions. Her community outreach includes serving as a board member for the Chicago Public Library and its foundation, The Field Museum, The Chicago Public Education Fund and The Sundance Institute. Also, she is a director of three public companies: DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation.
Hobson earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy.
Podcast: Download (26.5MB)
