Mellody Hobson is chair of the board of directors of Dreamworks Animation and chairman of the board of trustees of Ariel Mutual Funds.
Hobson has become a nationally recognized voice on financial literacy and investor education. She is a regular contributor and analyst on finance, the markets, and economic trends for CBS News. She also contributes weekly money tips on the Tom Joyner Morning Show and writes a column for Black Enterprise magazine.
She is a spokesperson for the Ariel/Hewitt Study: 401(k) Plans in Living Color and the Ariel Black Investor Survey, both of which examine investing patterns among minorities. Hobson is a director at the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.; Groupon, Inc.; and the Starbucks Corporation.
Her community outreach activities include serving as chairman of After School Matters, a nonprofit educational organization that provides Chicago teenagers with high-quality, out-of-school programs. She is also a board member of the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, the Chicago Public Education Fund, and the Sundance Institute, and is on the executive committee of the Investment Company Institute’s board of governors.