John Hope Bryant

Solving Poverty: This Generation Needs An Economic Backup Plan

I recently met a very impressive young man while visiting with my father, Mr. Johnnie Will Smith, in Los Angeles, California.  This young man, who lived next door and is the son of one who helps to care for my proud and still self-powered father of 88 years young, possessed incredible vocal, musical, and even writing and producing talent.   In other words, he could not only sing and dance, he could 'think,' analyze and strategize too. The only problem with this young man's life success plan, as I shared with him, was that his primary dream plan did not have a practical backup plan.  And worse from my perspective, his backup plan, should really be his primary plan instead.  Let me explain.

Responsible rap (meaning rap that is true to its origins and roots), Hip-Hop, the broad world of celebrity, and our varied professional sports, are so very important to cultivate and carry forward as part of the larger African-American and minority success story framework for a race.  As Quincy Jones repeatedly burns into my soul and pounds into my thick head, "music, art and culture shapes the soul, helps to heal and bring together our world. They help to shape more well rounded people."  I agree with Q 100%.  

That said, having a career in music, the arts, entertainment (in front of the camera) and sports as the primary life success solution for more than 30 million African-Americans alone in this country, is just plain dumb.  Sure, a few lucky ones will make it through, but I would argue that most of them are not in fact all that 'lucky,' at the end of their career-day. A couple facts.

70% of all professional football players file bankruptcy within 5-years of retirement from the game, and there is a 100% injury rate amongst professional football players.

70% plus of all professional basketball players file bankruptcy within 5-years of retirement from the game.

And a vast majority of the "celebrity" artists, from rap to Hip-Hop and beyond, find themselves dead broke after a short, and often even highly visible career.  

Russell Simmons to Lend His Voice to the HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit

Hip Hop mogul to join financial dignity nonprofit’s 20^th Anniversary activities

Los Angeles – October 9, 2012 – “Silver rights” leader Operation HOPE (HOPE) today announced that Hip Hop mogul, and humanitarian Russell Simmons has joined the HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit (HGFDS) as a Featured Speaker. Simmons will lend his perspective for creating opportunity and an entrepreneurial approach to both business and philanthropy at the 2-day summit in Atlanta. 

Simmons known for creating a Hip Hop empire was recently named one of “Hollywood’s Most Influential Celebrities” by Forbes magazine. USA Today named Russell Simmons one of the “Top 25 Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years,” calling him a “hip-hop pioneer” for his groundbreaking vision that has influenced music, fashion, finance, the jewelry industry, television and film, as well as the face of modern philanthropy.

Baltimore Sun Op-Ed: Unleashing Invention In Our Schools

Unleashing invention in our schools

What if millions of kids were given the tools to become entrepreneurs?

October 03, 2012|By Jim Clifton and John Hope Bryant

Everyone knows that the United States is in a terrible business slump, and there's no shortage of opinions about it and solutions for it — but there hasn't been much in the way of notable improvement. So we have been looking deeply into the science of human nature to find an answer and a solution, and here is what we know: There are 6 million small businesses, about 100,000 midsized companies, and fewer than 1,000 really big businesses in the United States. In total, they generate right at 100 million real, full-time jobs and just over $15 trillion in sales and production. That is "America's Company," and it has stopped growing.

We found two reasons for it. One, business leaders aren't in a "growth" state of mind. No matter the size of the company, they have lost their will to dream it and build it. Second, the country is seriously short on start-ups. We need a minimum of 2 million start-up companies per year to keep our economy and jobs pumping, but we are running at a measly 400,000 a year. This is a game-over moment. Nothing fixes the United States' economic problems unless the number of start-ups booms to new highs.

We cannot buy, tax or legislate our way to a sudden, world-changing boom of start-ups. But we can mentor and intern our way to one. The future of our economy is to be found in our youth, because the spirit of free enterprise that builds companies, jobs and economies is most likely to be found there.

Read the complete Baltimore Sun Op-Ed here, and share with your communities.  Start the national discussion on the role of hope in the lives of our kids.

 

FROM OMAHA WORLD-HERALD: ‘Make smart sexy again,’ youths told

By Ross Boettcher
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The long-term future of the U.S. economy rests on the shoulders of young people who are eager to start businesses, create jobs and be their own bosses but don’t necessarily have the skills to pull that off.

The most recent Gallup-Hope Index, a measure of entrepreneurial engagement and financial literacy, found that 45 percent of students in grades five through 12 want to start their own company, and 77 percent want to be their own boss.

The students responded to a nationally representative poll conducted by the Gallup Organization in partnership with Operation HOPE. 

On Wednesday, about 300 high-achieving Omaha Avenue Scholars, community business leaders and 300 Gallup employees converged on the Joslyn Museum to hear John Hope Bryant, the chief executive and founder of Operation HOPE, encourage more students to fight back against “thug culture” and to “make smart sexy again.”

“Everything you do matters,” Bryant said. “This is not a recession we’re in. It’s a reset.”

The vast majority of the 1,721 students surveyed said they aren’t afraid to take risks, never give up and are regularly thinking of new ideas — qualities characteristic of entrepreneurs.

But only about half report that their schools offer classes on how to run a business and 54 percent learn lessons about finance and banking. Fifty-eight percent of students reported having their own bank account, and about one-in-five spend more than one hour a week doing a paid job.

Read the complete article here.

 

CGI America 2012: John Hope Bryant on Creating New Pathways to Opportunity | Operation HOPE Blog

 

CGI America 2012: John Hope Bryant on Creating New Pathways to Opportunity | Operation HOPE Blog.

NewsMax at CGI America: John Hope Bryant on from Financial Literacy to Financial Dignity

 

John Hope Bryant, attending CGI America 2012 in Chicago, IL, speaks on the evolution of financial literacy, now federal law, to financial dignity, and his future aspiration for a generation.  Bryant also applauds the continued and unique leadership of President Obama on the issue of financial capability in our nation, and his coming movements; HOPE 700 Credit Score Communities and HOPE Business In A Box.

Read the complete printed version of the article here.

 

John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass) the only African-American bestselling business author in America, and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama.  Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of the Gallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. 

Grammy-award winner Quincy Jones on financial dignity, the "civil rights issue of our generation"

His mission to bring hope and dignity to young people and their parents--through practical economic education.

Is there a tipping point for justice? Yes, according to John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO, of Operation HOPE, a not-for-profit organization focused on expanding economic opportunity in underserved communities through economic education and empowerment.

“The goal of 5MK is to reach, teach and touch five million kids in five years about the importance of understanding the language of money, entrepreneurship and the importance of education.”-Quincy Jones

Citing Malcolm Gladwell’s book Tipping Point, Bryant notes that “when five percent of citizens are [economically] positively and actively engaged a community becomes stabilized.” The end result is financial dignity, which Bryant calls “the civil rights issue of our generation.” He says, “There are almost no role models in ‘low-wealth’ communities.”

Reaching five million children

Operation HOPE’s Five Million Kids (5MK) Initiative is focused on creating a mainstream financial literacy movement in America by leveraging current trends on behalf of kids and their parents. “Our kids are brilliant, but their lives have been hijacked by a culture that celebrates celebrities and sports and equates being dumb with being cool. We need to flip that on its head,” Bryant says.

That’s where Grammy-award winner Quincy Jones comes in. Mr. Jones and the civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young are the National Co- Chairs of 5MK.

Bryant explains, “Quincy Jones is one of the few global brands who is relevant to every generation whether you like Kanye West, Jay-Z, or Dizzy Gillespie.”

Quincy Jones says, “The goal of 5MK is to reach, teach and touch five million kids in five years about the importance of understanding the language of money, entrepreneurship and the importance of education.”

Making capitalism work for everyone

Read the complete article here.

 

 

From the 20th anniversary archives: John Hope Bryant talking to inner-city youth in Oakland Public Schools

 

This video is the single best "answer" to anyone genuinely interested in the power and impact of our work here at Operation HOPE.  This is a Global Dignity sponsored Dignity Day session from 2010 at Edna Brewer Middle School students in Oakland, California.  Operation HOPE now has a districtwide partnership with Oakland Public Schools to provide each and every child with both financial dignity education through Banking on Our Future, as well as (upcoming) HOPE Business In A Box!

This is how you change the world. One child, and one school house at a time.

Onward and with HOPE,

 

John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Magazine/CEO READ bestselling business author of LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass) the only African-American bestselling business author in America, and is chairman of the Subcommittee for the Under-Served and Community Empowerment for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability, for President Barack Obama.  Mr. Bryant is the co-founder of the Gallup-HOPE Index, the only national research poll on youth financial dignity and youth economic energy in the U.S. He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland. Global Dignity is affiliated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the World Economic Forum. 

From the archives: Civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young and John Hope Bryant talking to youth at B.E.S.T Academy

 

John Hope Bryant "Smart as Cool" Quote of the Day

"My mentor Quincy Jones says it takes 20 years to change a culture. In the last 20 years we have in many ways made dumb sexy. We have dumbed down and celebrated it. Now, we must make smart sexy again. ...We must make smart cool, so kids WANT to stay in school. And WE CAN DO THIS."


John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, and author of business bestseller LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass).