Mellody Hobson Says It’s Not OK to Fall Short on Diversity

“There’s been a lot of ‘try’ around diversity,” but trying isn’t enough, says Mellody Hobson, the co-chief executive officer of minority-owned Ariel Investments LLC. She was interviewed by video this week by Marie-Josee Kravis, past president of the Economic Club of New York.

“For a long time corporations have been talking about diversity,” said Hobson, who is African-American. “And the interesting thing is, it’s the only area where you can talk a lot about something, not make any progress, and still have your job. Everything else we do in corporate America, if we don’t get results, we get fired.”