Mellody Hobson Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ariel Investment Trust President Ariel Investments Mellody 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 Ariel Investment Trust. Beyond her work at Ariel, Mellody has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. Specifically, she is a regular financial contributor on Good Morning America, the featured consumer finance expert on Tom Joyner’s Money Mondays radio program and a regular columnist for Black Enterprise. 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 examine investing patterns among minorities. Mellody is chairman of the board for DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. as well as a director of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Groupon, Inc., and Starbucks Corporation. Her community outreach includes serving as chairman of After School Matters, a non-profit that provides Chicago teens with high quality, out-of-school time programs. Additionally, she is a board member of The Field Museum, Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, The Chicago Public Education Fund, The Sundance Institute and is on the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute. Mellody earned her AB degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy. She also received an honorary doctorate degree in humanities from Howard University.