Wall Street’s Most Connected Black Woman Has An Ingenious Idea To Narrow The Wealth Gap

Wall Street’s Most Connected Black Woman Has An Ingenious Idea To Narrow The Wealth Gap

Asa sixth grader in Chicago public schools in 1980, Mellody Hobson was mortified by the snaggletooth that protruded when she smiled. It simply didn't fit the future she envisioned for herself. She asked her friends who wore braces for the name of their orthodontist, and without her mother knowing, made an appointment, walking from school to his office. He said she'd have to wear braces for years and that it would cost $2, 500—a monumental sum for Hobson's struggling single mother, who was raising her and her five siblings in a home where money was so tight the electricity was periodically shut off because of unpaid bills. No matter. That tooth was going to be fixed: Hobson and the orthodontist agreed to a payment plan of about $50 per month. In eighth grade, determined to go to one of Chicago's best private high schools, she asked friends where they were applying, called the schools and arranged to tour them with her mother in tow. She wound up at St. Ignatius College Prep on a scholarship. Photo by Jamel Toppin for Forbes In 2020, in the wake of the nationwide George Floyd protests, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wanted to aid