Mellody Hobson
Ariel Investments, Co-CEO and President
Mellody is Co-CEO of Ariel InvestmentsAs Co-CEO, Mellody is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Ariel. Additionally, she chairs the board of Ariel Investments’ publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, Mellody spent nearly two decades as Ariel’s President. In 2025, she founded Project Level® to change the game in women’s sports. Mellody co-founded Ariel Alternatives, LLC in 2021 and its inaugural private equity fund, Project Black®. Beyond Ariel, she serves as a director of JPMorgan Chase and is the former chair of Starbucks Corporation. Mellody was a long-standing board member of the Estée Lauder Companies and chairman of the board of DreamWorks Animation until the company’s sale in 2016.
Mellody’s community outreach includes her role as chairman of After School Matters, a Chicago non-profit that provides area teens with high-quality after-school and summer programs. She is also co-chair of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and a board member of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mellody is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the LA28 Olympic Games and past chair of the Economic Club of Chicago.
In 2015, Time Magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential People” in the world.