John Hope Bryant : Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE

May 21, 2013

Huffington Post ~ Solving Poverty: The New Philanthropy is a Job

John Hope Bryant

Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur

The thing I am most proud of in my professional career is that I meet a payroll every two weeks, and have been doing this successfully for more than 20 years now through Operation HOPE alone. In 20 years, I have never bounced a payroll check, and never had an employee arrive at a hospital emergency room only to be told that their benefits were no good. I am proud of that.

The Power of Role Modeling

But I didn't just 'become' a guy who could do this out of no where. I meet a payroll, because my father did. I saw my father meet payroll when I was a small child, typically on Friday nights, out the front door of our modest home in South Los Angeles. My entrepreneurship DNA was planted at an early age. Thank God my parents instilled in me a powerful sense of "who I am," and "yes I can." Being a victim just wasn't an option in my household. Creating something, making something, developing something, adding to something, becoming something -- was the only option my mom and dad gave me. And yes, I was also fortunate to have a mom and dad at home. This is not a foregone conclusion in an inner-city home.

Today, I am who I am, because my father was who he was. And I am thankful.

Those who make payroll possible once or twice a month in this country are a very unique breed, and as far as I am concerned, represent true American royalty. Why? Because they create the thing that drives most all other good things -- JOBS.

Read, share and comment on the full article here.

Posted at 08:22 PM in 21st Century African-American Agenda, 21st Century Latino Agenda, 21st Century Low Wealth Agenda, 21st Century Mainstream Agenda, 21st century Middle Class agenda, 21st Century Youth Agenda, Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant on a World on Reset, Bryant on Ambassador Andrew Young, Bryant on Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Bryant on Civil Rights, Bryant on Entrepreneurship, Bryant on Jobs, Bryant on Love Leadership, Bryant on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Bryant on Something to Think About, Bryant on Success, Bryant on the Economy, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Financial Literacy, John Hope Bryant Authored | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: american entrepreneurship, american job creators, civil rights justice to silver rights empowerment for all, huffington post, inner-city jobs, jobs, john hope bryant, johnnie w. smith, operation hope, small business, urban entrepreneurship

May 19, 2013

HOPE Snippet: What We Are About

"Operation HOPE is the global leader of financial diginity. This includes the financial literacy empowerment, financial inclusion, and the ecomomic empowerment of the working poor, the underserved and the struggling middle class here and around the world. We call this the new 'silver rights' movement for all."

John Hope Bryant

Posted at 09:50 PM in Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, John Hope Bryant Authored | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 17, 2013

Huffington Post ~ Solving Poverty: Fighting Blight and Poverty with Credit Scores

John Hope Bryant

Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur

In the 50 years since the civil rights movement and Dr. King's dream, one problem (racism) has been replaced or at least matched by another -- poverty. Urban poverty, rural poverty, and poverty that hits blacks, whites, browns and others alike. As I have said previously in the Huffington Post, poverty is the new racism. If you are poor, everything pretty much sucks.

The old model of racism was based on race and the color line. The new model of racism is rooted in class and poverty. The old racism was obvious in signs that read White Only, from the southern states in the U.S. to South Africa. The new racism is more obvious in Misery Row.

Whether it is a feature on a boulevard in an urban city or a rural town, or whether it is at the entrance of a military base, the Misery Row looks pretty much the same. Predatory check cashers, next to rent to own stores, payday lending stores, title lending stores, and liquor stores.

One group of financial predators takes advantage of your financial problems and misfortune, while another associated group benefits by helping you to forget you actually have any.

Read, comment and share the complete article here.

Posted at 04:28 PM in 21st Century Low Wealth Agenda, 21st Century Mainstream Agenda, Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant on Banking the Unbanked, Bryant on Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Bryant on Civil Rights, Bryant on Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Bryant on Leadership, Bryant on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Bryant on Something to Think About, Bryant on the Black Consumer, Bryant on the Global Economic Crisis and Response, Bryant on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis, HOPE 700 Credit Score Communities, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Communications, HOPE Financial Dignity, HOPE Financial Dignity Centers, HOPE Financial Illiteracy, HOPE Financial Literacy, HOPE Results, John Hope Bryant Authored, Partnership with Community, Partnership with Government, Partnership with Private Sector | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: financial dignity, financial literacy, hope 700 credit score communities, huffington post, john hope bryant, operation hope, silver rights movement, solving poverty series

May 16, 2013

Solving Poverty: Financial Illiteracy Is Everywhere -- Rich and Broke -- Middle and Broke -- We're All Broke

Financial literacy may not be a sexy topic, but financial illiteracy is literally everywhere. And in this new economic age we all live in today, it's wrecking lives, hopes and dreams both large and small.

The number one cause of divorce, is money.
The number one reason for domestic abuse, is money.
The number one reason why police get injured on the job is not car chases or shootouts, but domestic abuse calls.
The number one reason why minorities (and increasingly mainstream America too) drop out of college is not grades or GPA, but money.
The number one cause for heart disease is stress, so says the American Heart Association. The number one reason for stress – money.

Financial illiteracy is no longer the thing we assign to the so-called poor, and those without a college degree, or a degree of material success. It is something that now effects and impacts all of us, and we need to do something about it. Now. But before we put out the urgent call to our elected officials, we need to also look at ourselves, our own lives, and our own decisions.

Continue reading "Solving Poverty: Financial Illiteracy Is Everywhere -- Rich and Broke -- Middle and Broke -- We're All Broke" »

Posted at 08:00 AM in Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant as Testimony, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant on Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Bryant on Leadership, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Financial Illiteracy, HOPE Financial Literacy, HOPE Office of Government Relations and Public Policy, HOPE's Banking on Our Future Program, HOPE's Banking on Our Future, College Edition, John Hope Bryant Authored | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: financial illiteracy, financial literacy, john hope bryant, operation hope

May 13, 2013

HOPE Coalition America Posts Results for Project Restore HOPE: Hurricane Sandy

Los Angeles -- May 9, 2013 -- Since November 2012, Operation HOPE’s disaster preparedness and recovery division, HOPE Coalition America (HCA), has provided Disaster Financial Recovery personal counseling for 11,069 individuals and reached out to an additional 38,266 survivors referred by the American Red Cross for financial guidance and assistance, the financial dignity nonprofit announced today. These figures mark the initial efforts of HCA’s two year plan to provide services to individuals and small businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012.

Through Operation HOPE’s disaster preparedness and recovery division, HOPE Coalition America (HCA), free financial recovery information and guidance is available for individuals and small business owners through a national toll free assistance hotline 888-388-HOPE (4673).

HOPE Coalition America Posts Results for Project Restore HOPE: Hurricane Sandy.

Posted at 01:09 PM in Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, HOPE and Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK), HOPE Coalition America, HOPE Coalition America - Hurricane Sandy Response, HOPE Emergency Disaster Recovery, HOPE Emergency Disaster Response | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: emergency financial case management, emergency financial preparedness, hca, hope coalition america, hurricane sandy work, response and recovery

May 12, 2013

A Mother's Day Tribute, and a Rose, for A Mother-Leader to us All

On April 27th, 2013, the King Center unveiled the Coretta Scott King commemorative rose, and I was honored and pleasantly surprised to return home from one of my many trips to find two of the beautiful roses at my home.

The roses were a gift from my friend and HOPE board member Dr. Bernice A. King, CEO of the King Center (a post once held by her mother), and destined for a special planting location in my private park here in Atlanta, Georgia. But as I reflected on the Coretta Scott King commemorative Rose, I also began to reflect on the woman. The woman, as leader, mother, wife, keeper of the King legacy flame. I decided I had to write something in honor of her, on this special day.

Continue reading "A Mother's Day Tribute, and a Rose, for A Mother-Leader to us All" »

Posted at 09:11 PM in 21st Century African Agenda, 21st Century African-American Agenda, 21st Century Mainstream Agenda, Bryant and Friends, Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant as Testimony, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant Friends Making a Difference, Bryant Heroes and Sheroes, Bryant in Remembrance, Bryant International Agenda, Bryant Memories, Bryant on Ambassador Andrew Young, Bryant on Civil Rights, Bryant on Dignity, Bryant on Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Bryant on Life, Bryant on Love Leadership, Bryant on Something to Think About, HOPE and Friends, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Atlanta Office, John Hope Bryant Authored, Love Leadership Examples | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: ambassador andrew young, dr. bernice a. king, dr. martin luther king, john hope bryant, jr. the king center, mrs. coretta scott king, the coretta scott king rose

May 11, 2013

Saluting Operation HOPE's Own Jena Roscoe

Jena Roscoe serves as First Senior Vice President and Chief of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Operation HOPE. Ms. Roscoe is the first Senior Director of the East Coast Regional Corporate Headquarters at Gallup in Washington, DC.

Jena Roscoe is in charge of the HOPE Office of Government Relations and Public Policy, which is a global responsibility. In this post Ms. Roscoe has managed the relationship of and between three Presidential Administrations, from (Democrat) President Bill Clinton to (Republican) President George W. Bush, to (Democrat) President Barack Obama.

During her tenture at Operation HOPE, Ms. Jena Roscoe has led or otherwise helped to marshall in almost every major national private/public partnership and national government agreement with HOPE over the past decade; including our HOPE Coalition America national agreement with FEMA, our national agreements with the FDIC, the Veterans Administration, the creation of the SBA Office of Entrepreneurship Education, and the Operation HOPE 5-year partnership with the FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE, amongst many others.

Ms. Roscoe manages John Hope Bryant's personal public policy portfolio, including his involvement as a Presidential Appointee to the U.S. CDFI Fund at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, the portfolio of more than 100 Local Financial Literacy Councils for the Subcommittee on the Underserved and Community Empowerment for the President's Council, under President Barack Obama.

Continue reading "Saluting Operation HOPE's Own Jena Roscoe" »

Posted at 11:51 PM in 21st Century African-American Agenda, Bryant and Friends, Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant Friends Making a Difference, Bryant International Agenda, Bryant on Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Bryant on HOPE Leaders, HOPE and Friends, HOPE Center, Washington, DC-Anacostia, HOPE Office of Government Relations and Public Policy, HOPE, Washington, DC, HOPE-FEMA National Partnership, HOPE-FSR Framework Agreement, HOPE-Gallup Index, John Hope Bryant Authored, Love Leadership Examples, Partnership with Government | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: d.c. regional office office, jena roscoe, operation hope grpp, operation hope office of government relations and public policy, operation hope washington, operation hope-gallup partnership, president barack obama, president bill clinton, president george w. bush

A Teacher-Leader Testimonial on our work from Operation HOPE South Africa

Good Afternoon Mr John Bryant

I do hope that I find you well. I would like to thank you for sparing your time and effort to come and address my learners at Sandtonview Combined School, on Monday the 22rd of April 2013. Your presentation was so inspiring to me as the Educator/Teacher at the school working with the learners everyday and to the learners at large.

Its always good to hear from the "best of the best" in entrepreneurship in the world. We as a school were so fortunate and privileged to say the least. According to your stuff members, this was a first in South Africa where a programme was started and we were first to have a one on one conversation with the founding father of the organisation.

I would like extend my sencere gratitude to you once again for giving one of my learners, the opportunity of a lifetime, a paid internship with your organisation on completion/graduation. This has already motivated the youngster to even do better in his school-work and in terms of his behaviour right here at school. All the young business learners are so earger to follow in your footsteps and that of your partner Natasha Foreman.

The opportunity that you have given these learners is on that they will never forget in their lifetime. In addition I have also learnt, in my personal capacity as an Educator, various life changing lessons through your presentation. Your use of Twee and George in the selling of drugs and their death brought tears to my eyes. You know why? Its just because I am sitting in this classroom in front of my learners, some of whom are already using these drugs and its painfull as you see them destroying their own lives and what you tell them they do not even listern to you due to a variety of factors. Sir, your example on pregnant school girls, a reality that I see each and every teaching day of my life. I keep hoping that the ones that I have managed to inspire and brought to Operation Hope's Banking On Our Future programme will be inspired as iI did and be able to take their lives into a better future. Alutah continua with "Operation Hope" in South Africa and through-out the world as it is the only vehicle that will drive hunger and under-development from our continent.

May the Almighty protects you from all forms of evil so that one day I will meet you again and relieve to you my own personal life journey that I would have travelled.

Regards

Ganyiwa Isaac

Educator: Sandtonview Combined School, South Africa

Posted at 08:41 PM in 21st Century African Agenda, 21st Century Low Wealth Agenda, Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant in Remembrance, Bryant on a Vision for the Future, Bryant on a World on Reset, Bryant on Africa, Bryant on Capitalism for the People, Bryant on Dignity, Bryant on Global Citizenship, Bryant Traveling Man, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Financial Dignity, HOPE Financial Literacy, HOPE Global Initiatives, HOPE South Africa, HOPE Testimonials, HOPE Youth Empowerment Group, HOPE's Banking on Our Future Program | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Banking on Our Future and 100 HOPE Corps Volunteers Bring Financial Literacy Empowerment to Silver Springs, Maryland

Recently my Operation HOPE, Washington, DC and Operation HOPE, Maryland teams came together and had a very successful Banking on our Future volunteer event at Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring, MD. There were over 100 HOPE Corps volunteers present and involved, and included employees from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Women in Housing and Finance, Capital One, Fannie Mae, M&T Bank, Bank of India, BB&T Bank, Sandy Spring Bank, Bank of America, First Mariner Bank, FDIC, City First Bank, ETrade Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of Georgetown, and FINRA.

A special thank you to my friend and financial dignity supporter, Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot, who teamed up with US Comptroller of the Currency Barry Wides to teach a Banking on Our Future financial literacy class. Maryland Comptroller Franchot and US Deputy Comptroller Wides also spoke to the volunteers about Franchot's mission to get each county in Maryland to adopt a graduation requirement for a financial literacy class in the senior year. Severak counties have already signed on to support this financial dignity leadership initiative of Comptroller Franchot. Operation HOPE certainly supports him.

A special acknowledgement to Jackie Starr, who is our Operation HOPE market president for the Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Operation HOPE, Washington, DC and Operation HOPE, Maryland are part of the larger mission of Operation HOPE, which is now a leading global provider of financial literacy to financial dignity empowerment services for the underserved, the working poor and the struggling middle class.

With 2 million clients served, 20,000 HOPE Corps volunteers, and more than $1.5 billion in private capital directed into America's low wealth and underserved communities, creating thousands of homeowners, small business owners and entrepreneurs over the past 20 years, Operation HOPE is making a difference. But we cannot achieve our mission alone. We cannot seek to advance the final work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., eradicating poverty and achieving a measure of economic justice for all, alone.

Operation HOPE operates the HOPE Financial Dignity Center Atlanta at Ebenezer Church, located on the campus of the King Center and as the anchor tenant of the Martin Luther King, Sr. Community Resource Complex. Martin Luther King, Sr, or "Daddy King" as he was called, co-pastored Ebenezer Church with his son Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement, and served on the board of a bank for 40-years; a little known fact. Daddy King was also focused on making free enterprise work for all, as his son was focused in the last years of his life on poverty eradication and economic justice.

The mission of Operation HOPE is civil rights to silver rights, or making free enterprise work for all.

Posted at 08:31 PM in 21st Century African-American Agenda, 21st Century Latino Agenda, 21st Century Low Wealth Agenda, 21st Century Mainstream Agenda, 21st century Middle Class agenda, 21st Century Youth Agenda, 5MK (5 MILLION KIDS), Bryant and his Vision for Operation HOPE, Bryant Blogging for the People, Bryant Friends Making a Difference, Bryant Heroes and Sheroes, Bryant on a Vision for the Future, Bryant on Bi-Partisan Public Policy, Bryant on Current Affairs, Bryant on Giving Back, Bryant on Leadership, HOPE and Friends, HOPE and the Silver Rights Movement, HOPE Center, Washington, DC-Anacostia, HOPE Communications, HOPE Financial Dignity, HOPE Financial Literacy, HOPE Local Impact, HOPE Office of Government Relations and Public Policy, HOPE Results, HOPE's Banking on Our Future Program, HOPE, Baltimore, HOPE, Washington, DC, Partnership with Community, Partnership with Government, Partnership with Private Sector | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: banking on our future, dc, financial dignity, financial literacy, hope corps, maryland comptroller peter franchot, operation hope maryland, operation hope washington, us comptroller of the currency barry wides

National Urban League's State Of Black America Finds Uneven Progress In The Pursuit Of Equality

Marc Morial, President and of the CEO National Urban League, outlines his agenda for and around 2013 State of Black America Report.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, serves as contributing author to the State of Black America 2013 report, focused on "Financial Dignity In An Economic Age."

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --The National Urban League's (www.nul.org) State of Black America report released today concludes that despite social and economic gains, the African-American equality gap with whites has changed little since 1963—the year of the Great March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the height of the civil rights movement.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Great March, this year's State of Black America—Redeem the Dream: Jobs Rebuild America includes a 50-year retrospective analysis conducted through the lens of The Equality Index®. The report shows that while the African-American condition has improved, including achievements in educational attainment and employment, this progress has occurred largely within the Black community. Double-digit gains in education, employment and wealth contrast sharply with the single-digit gains made in those same areas compared to whites.

Report more from the National Urban League on the 2013 Report release here.

See the complete report here.

John Hope Bryant is an empowerment leader, the 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.