Mellody Hobson Makes History

It is with great pleasure that I congratulate Mellody Hobson on becoming the first African-American woman to chair the Economic Club of Chicago. Hobson joined the club some 20 years ago - at the time becoming one of its youngest members ever. The business and civic club announced Mellody's appointment as chair at its annual dinner meeting on May 1st; she will assume leadership of the board in July.

Mellody currently serves as president of Ariel Investments and as such 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.

She also serves on the boards of Starbucks and The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., provides financial commentary for CBS News and the nationally syndicated "Tom Joyner Morning Show," and is chairman of Chicago nonprofit After School Matters, which organizes activities for Chicago teens.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mellody for my WE Interview series in 2013; click here to read full interview.

Congratulations Mellody!!

An interesting side note: In 2009, Hobson's colleague and boss John Rogers, Chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, became the first African-American chair of the invite-only Economic Club, which was founded in 1927 and today stands as one of the most prestigious organizations for Chicago's business elite. Look for my upcoming C-Suite Insights interview with John at www.kinlin.com.