The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. hosted a virtual Signature Event on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. David Rubenstein interviewed Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO & President of Ariel Investments, LLC.

As Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, Mellody is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Ariel Investments, outside of research and portfolio management, for the nearly $15 billion dollar company. Additionally, she serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ariel Investment Trust—the company’s publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, Mellody spent nearly two decades as the firm’s President.

She is also Co-Founder of Ariel Alternatives, LLC, a private asset management firm founded in February 2021. Its first initiative, Project Black, aims to scale sustainable minority-owned businesses.

Mellody is the incoming Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation and is also a director of JPMorgan Chase. She received her AB from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of International Relations and Public Policy.