Team - Ariel Alternatives

Our Co-Founders

Our co-founders have successfully grown and led their own firms, while holding leadership roles on some of the most iconic corporate boards in the country. Both are steeped in the financial services industry with direct access to corporate leaders throughout the world.

Leslie A. Brun

Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Mellody Hobson

Co-Founder, Ariel Alternatives

Co-CEO and President, Ariel Investments

Our Investment Team

Our experienced investment leaders have spent the last several decades cultivating deep relationships with Fortune 500 C-Suite executives, board members and purchasing officers to glean the proprietary insights that inform our targeted investment approach.

Frantz Alphonse

Senior Managing Director

Yue Bonnet

Senior Managing Director and Head of Investments

Eric Brice

Managing Director

Lorenna Buck

Managing Director

Akilah Carter Davis

Senior Associate

Clara Fagan, CFA®

Principal

Aarti Kotak

Managing Director

Head of ESG and Social Impact

Jonathan Obadia

Senior Associate

Jai K. Parson

Associate

Erica Royal

Associate

Norman Walters

Vice President

Our Business Leadership

Marvin Alfaro

Vice President, Controller

Carlos E. Calderon

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Arielle Patrick

Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer

Nancy Power, SHRM-SCP®

Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer

Emma Rodriguez-Ayala

Executive Vice President

Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel

Nikki Stokes-Thompson

Chief of Staff

Pascale Thomas

Chief Compliance Officer, Ariel Alternatives, LLC

Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Ariel Investments, LLC and Ariel Alternatives, LLC

Our Board of Managers

Ariel Alternatives leverages strategic counsel from its board on an ongoing basis. This group has served on the boards of several Fortune 500 companies, and advised on countless M&A transactions.