Mellody Hobson Appointed as Chairman of DreamWorks Animation

Mellody Hobson &  George Lucas

Financial guru, Mellody Hobson, is replacing Roger Enrico as Chairman of DreamWorks Animation. Hobson, 43, has been highlighted several times on Society Noir for her illustrious achievements. The Princeton graduate is president of Ariel Investments a Chicago-based African-American owned firm which manages more than $3 billion in assets, and chairwoman of Ariel Mutual Funds.  The beautiful MidWestern brainiac is also a  financial contributor on the popular television show Good Morning America.  In addition,  she’s also a director of Estee Lauder, Starbucks, and Groupon, and sits on the boards of the Sundance Institute, Chicago’s Field Museum, and the Chicago Public Education Fund.

Hobson, whose been romantically linked to world-renowned filmmaker George Lucas since 2006, brings an interesting dynamic to DreamWorks Animation.  Bucking the status quo in the male, non-black dominated world of Hollywood it will be more than interesting to see the influence Ms. Hobson will yield.  

To say the least, Ms. Hobson's appointment as Chairman to DreamWorks Animation is certainly a welcomed departure.

Read our past coverage of Mellody Hobson here and here.

Flashes: Ciara, Mellody Hobson and more @ Hip Hop Summit Action Network Awards

Ciara and LL Cool


Mellody Hobson with boyfriend, George Lucas


Chris and Veronica Lighty


Andre Harrell
(Photos:WireImage)

The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network awards dinner was hosted earlier this week by HSAN Chairman Russell Simmons. The dinner was a mix of the hip-hop elite, corporate movers and shakers, as well as community leaders, like Dr. Benjamin Chavis and Andre Harrell. The purpose of the dinner was "taking back responsibility" in the hip hop music community by honoring those stars that give back their time and their funds to helping to improve "the quality of life of all people," according to Russell Simmons.

Award Honoree, Mellody Hobson looked great and made an appearance with her boyfriend George Lucas, the director of Star Wars. Ciara, Snoop Dogg, Doug E. Fresh, and Chris Lighty (50 Cents manager) were among those who were honored for their good deeds in the hip hop community.

Mellody Hobson Speaks on Retirement Crisis for Black Americans

I came across an interesting article written by Chicagoan,Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Capital Mgt. and director of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation.

Mellody Hobson with boyfriend, George Lucas

Mellody posted an article on The Huffington Post titled "The Looming Retirement Crisis in the African-American Community." In her article she speaks of her company Ariel doing research on African-Americans trends in employee benefits, retirement and financial literacy.
Employee benefit providers and corporations unfortunately, found these bad habits among black employees that could negatively affect their long-term financial security:
- Blacks save less per month
- Less likely to diversify their portfolio
- Less likely to roll over when they change jobs
- More likely to borrow against their 401 (k)

Ms. Hobson argues that a lack of financial literacy among the African-American community will cause growing national crisis and financial burdens on retirees' children and society. She encourages a national effort to promote financial literacy, an increase of knowledge and exposure to investment information.

I do agree with her that Social Security, baby boomer retirement in addition to everyday economic hardships America needs to be addressed and resolved, sooner rather than later. I think everyone in the US no matter what their race is should pay very close attention to their financial portfolio and prepare carefully for their future.

I only touched on a couple points, but Mellody's an expert on this so click and paste this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mellody-hobson/the-looming-retirement-cr_b_85390.html for the full story, it's an interesting read.