Emma Rodriguez Ayala

Emma Rodriguez-Ayala serves as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Ariel Investments Holding Company and its subsidiaries – Ariel Investments, Ariel Alternatives, Project Level, and Ariel Distributors, leading the firm’s legal, compliance, governance, investment operations, technology, marketing, communications, and enterprise risk management functions. She runs the day-to-day operations of Project Level, the firm’s first fund dedicated to investments in women’s sports. Project Level has already invested in the National Women’s Soccer League’s expansion team in Denver and League One Volleyball (LOVB), a nationwide network of approximately 2,000 youth teams that also launched a professional league, LOVB Pro.

Prior to joining Ariel, Rodriguez-Ayala served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Board Secretary of LGIM America, a diversified asset manager with $220 billion in assets under management. In this role, she led the legal, compliance, governance, and operational risk functions, served on the Executive Committee, and chaired the firm-wide Risk Committee.

Rodriguez-Ayala is active in corporate and nonprofit governance, and serves as an independent director of First Bank Chicago, one of the largest privately held banks in the Chicagoland area. Rodriguez-Ayala sits on the boards of Chicago television station WTTW and Chicago classical music station WFMT. She is also a founder and board member of Angeles Investors, a Latino-focused angel investing group, and a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association.

A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez-Ayala graduated summa cum laude with a BA in International Business from Saint Louis University and earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School. She is also qualified as a Chief Compliance Officer by the Canadian Securities Institute and holds Diligent’s Climate Leadership Certification. In 2025, she was named to TIME’s Latino Leaders list.