President Obama wants Ariel Investments CEO John Rogers to chair the new President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. This week the president revealed his intention to appoint Rogers, a longtime friend of the Obamas, and 11 other individuals to the council.

John Rogers Ariel Investments CEO

The list also includes Chuck Schwab's daughter, Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, who serves as president of the Charles Schwab Foundation. (see the list of appointees below). The president plans to announce additional council members at a later date.

The Advisory Council on Financial Capability will "provide advice to the President on promoting and enhancing financial literacy and capability among the American people," according to a press release issued by the White House earlier this week.

Rogers isn't the only Ariel executive in the news in recent days. Mellody Hobson, president of the Chicago-headquartered mutual fund firm, was reportedly tapped by Rahm Emanuel to co-chair his campaign to be the next mayor of Chicago.

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White House Press Release

October 12, 2010

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts:

John W. Rogers, Jr., Chair, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Lorraine Cole, Vice Chair, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Roland A. Arteaga, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Theodore Beck, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

John Hope Bryant, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Samuel T. Jackson, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Richard Ketchum, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Beth Kobliner, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Addison Barry Rand, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Amy Rosen, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

Kenneth Wade, Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability

President Obama said, "I am confident that these highly qualified men and women will greatly serve the American people as they work to improve financial literacy and promote services that will benefit consumers. I look forward to their sound advice on these issues as we work together in the months and years ahead."

The Council will provide advice to the President on promoting and enhancing financial literacy and capability among the American people. This effort is important to help keep America competitive and assist the American people in understanding and addressing financial matters, which contributes to our national financial stability. The Council has been tasked with a number of charges, including advising the President on: financial education efforts; promoting financial products and services that are beneficial to consumers, especially low- and moderate-income consumers; and promoting understanding of effective use of such products and services.

The new Council is a part of President Obama's broader commitment to promote financial capability and protect American consumers. One of the central aspects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that President Obama recently signed into law is the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the sole mission of which is protect and empower American consumers with the clear and concise information they need to make the financial decisions that are best for them and their families. The CFPB will house a new Office of Financial Education that will help educate and empower consumers to make better informed financial decisions. The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability will play an important role in complementing these efforts. The President will announce additional members to this Committee at a later date.

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key administration posts: John W. Rogers, Jr., Appointee for Chair, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability John W. Rogers, Jr. is the Chairman, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments, a firm he founded in 1983 to focus on undervalued small and medium-sized companies. Mr. Rogers currently serves as a board member of Aon Corporation, Exelon Corporation and McDonald’s Corporation. Additionally, he is chairman of the Economic Club of Chicago, a director of the Chicago Urban League, a trustee of the University of Chicago, chairman of the board of trustees for the University of Chicago Laboratory School, and a member of the board of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, where he chairs the investment committee. Mr. Rogers served as a co-chair for the Obama-Biden Presidential Inaugural Committee. In 2008, Mr. Rogers was awarded Princeton University’s highest honor, the Woodrow Wilson Award, presented each year to the alumni whose career embodies a commitment to national service. In 2010, he was named an Outstanding Director by the Outstanding Directors Exchange for his leadership on governance, management and diversity in the boardroom.

Lorraine Cole, Appointee for Vice-Chair, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Lorraine Cole is currently an executive management consultant and served as the CEO of YWCA USA from 2006 until 2010. Prior to the YWCA, Dr. Cole led the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and was the Executive Director of the National Medical Association. She has been a fellow of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the American Society of Association Executives and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She also served as a research fellow of both the Ford and Rockefeller foundations and a health advocacy fellow of the Avery Institute for Social Change. Among her numerous awards, Meharry Medical College awarded Dr. Cole the Dr. Dorothy I. Height Vision Award. She has served on several national boards, including Women’s Policy Inc, the American Society of Association Executives, the National Association for Social Workers Foundation and the Women's Health Advisory Board for Pfizer.

Roland A. Arteaga, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Roland Arteaga is the President and CEO of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), a position he has held since 2000. In this capacity, he represents the interest of credit unions operating on military bases worldwide, serving as their primary liaison and conduit to the Pentagon. Prior to joining DCUC, Mr. Arteaga served in the United States Army from 1971 to 1999. Among his key assignments while on active duty were his battalion level command of the 230th Finance Support Unit, his deployment to Desert Shield/Desert Storm, his selection as the Senior Military Assistant and Executive Officer to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management, and Comptroller and Commander of the United States Army Finance Command at the Pentagon. An ex-officio member of the Defense Credit Union Council's Executive Committee and ex-officio board member and Treasurer of the Armed Forces Financial Network, Arteaga serves on the National Partners Coordinating Committee for the Military Saves campaign and is also a member of the American Society Military Comptrollers.

Ted Beck, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability Ted Beck is the President and CEO of the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). He is a former member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, and currently serves on the FDIC Advisory Committee on Economic Inclusion, and the board of the national JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Prior to his appointment at NEFE, Mr. Beck served as Associate Dean of Executive Education and Corporate Relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, and previously spent more than 20 years in senior management positions for Citibank/Citigroup. He previously served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Directors of Gammex, Inc., and served on the boards of Keylab, Madison Committee on Foreign Relations, International University Consortium for Executive Education, the Graduate School of Banking, the Wisconsin Public Utility Institute, Citicorp Securities, Inc., and the Cleveland Playhouse.

John Hope Bryant, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
John Hope Bryant is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, a nonprofit founded in 1992 that focuses on financial literacy and providing financial services for the underbanked in 70 U.S. communities and South Africa. He is also the co-founder of Global Dignity and a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders for the World Economic Forum and the Global Agenda Council for the World Economic Forum. Mr. Bryant served as the vice chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy (PACFL) and as the chairman of PACFL’s Committee on the Underserved. He is also the author of "Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World." Mr. Bryant has received numerous awards and citations for his work to empower low-wealth communities including the Use Your Life Award from Oprah Winfrey and a 1994 selection by Time magazine as one of America's 50 Most Promising Leaders of the Future.

Samuel T. Jackson, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Samuel T. Jackson is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of the Economic Empowerment Initiative, Inc., founded in 2001. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Southern Regional Council, National Association of African-Americans in Human Resources-Atlanta Chapter, Ryan Cameron Foundation, and Georgia Council on Economic Education. Mr. Jackson was honored with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award by Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and Rollins School of Public Health for excellence in community innovation and change.

Richard Ketchum, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Richard Ketchum is the Chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Prior to joining FINRA, he was CEO of NYSE Regulation, Chief Regulatory Officer of the New York Stock Exchange and General Counsel of the Corporate and Investment Bank of Citigroup, Inc. Previously, he spent 12 years at the National Association of Securities Dealers and The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc., where he served as president of both organizations. He also worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission for 14 years, with eight of those years as Director of the Division of Market Regulation. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Appleseed, a non-profit network of 16 public interest justice centers in the United States and Mexico.

Beth Kobliner, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Beth Kobliner is a personal finance commentator, journalist, and author of the New York Times bestseller Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties. She has written on all aspects of personal finance for a range of publications, including Money magazine, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Parade, Glamour, and Redbook. Ms. Kobliner has a regular segment on public radio’s The Takeaway, a program produced in partnership with the BBC World Service and The New York Times. She has been a repeat guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, CBS, NBC's Today Show, NPR, and PBS. An advisor to the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement, Ms. Kobliner participated in the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ National Commission on Retirement Policy. She is a content advisor to Sesame Workshop's upcoming Financial Education Initiative, a bilingual outreach program to promote financial literacy in very young children.

Addison Barry Rand, Nominee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Addison Barry Rand is Chief Executive Officer of AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people 50+ have independence, choices and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. He has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Avis Group Holdings, Chief Executive Officer of Equitant Ltd., and Executive Vice President for Worldwide Operations at Xerox Corporation. Mr. Rand has served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Howard University since 2006 and has also served on the boards of the Urban Family Institute, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Garth Fagan Dance Theatre. In 1993 he was inducted into the National Sales and Marketing Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the NAACP Image Award.

Amy Rosen, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Amy Rosen is President and CEO of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a global non-profit which provides programs designed to inspire young people from low income communities to succeed in school and in life by seizing educational opportunities and starting their own businesses. For over a decade, Rosen has worked on issues confronting the United States public education system as a Fellow at the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy and as the Chief Operating Officer for New Visions for Public Schools. Rosen also served as a Presidential Appointee to the Amtrak Board of Directors, Vice Chairman of the NJ Transit Board of Directors, Deputy Commissioner of the NJ Department of Transportation, and Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin Information Management Services. Rosen currently Chairs the Board of TEAM SCHOOLS, the network of KIPP Charter Schools in Newark.

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz is president of the Charles Schwab Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation, whose mission is to create positive change through financial education, philanthropy, and volunteerism. Schwab-Pomerantz writes extensively about personal finance; her work includes a weekly educational column distributed through schwab.com and Creators News Service as well as a book on family finance entitled It Pays to Talk: How to Have the Essential Conversations with your Family about Money and Investing. In her efforts to advance financial literacy, Schwab-Pomerantz has spearheaded several programs, including "Money Matters: Make It Count," a national program for teens, created in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

Kenneth Wade, Appointee for Member, President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability
Kenneth Wade is the CEO of NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit organization that supports over 3,000 community based organizations by providing technical assistance, financial assistance and training. In January 2011, he will join Bank of America as a Senior Community Affairs Executive. Mr. Wade has more than 35 years of experience in community development, and serves on the Bank of America National Community Advisory Council, the Board of Trustees of the National Housing Conference, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, the Board of the National Human Services Assembly, and the Board for the National Housing Counseling.

 

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