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.

If Bill Gates Were Black...

This is still one of my favorite articles. As appropriate now, as when it was first published in Bloomberg Businessweek. Share, comment, reflect, and let me know what you think.

It's time for a new movement.

If Bill Gates were black, it would be less important that President Barack Obama is black. This is no slight to President Obama. It is an acknowledgment that while the route to success has changed, for too many in the black and minority community, their game plan has not.

For much of the past century, African Americans pursued social justice through government intervention, the ballot box, and ultimately elective office. While the number of black mayors and elected officials in this country is impressive, the number of black entrepreneurs is not. As a result, job creation in underserved communities, and among the black middle class, is stagnant.

The main driver of freedom in the world today is not the vote but access to capital. When I speak of capital, I obviously mean financial capital, but I also mean the Latin root word capitas, or “knowledge in the head.” That means financial literacy education, financial capability, and financial and economic empowerment.

March 30, 2013

Atlanta Economic Factoid

Atlanta ranks third in the nation, behind NYC and Houston, in the number of Fortune 500 companies that have their headquarters in the city, but also tops KPMG's list of the largest metro areas with the lowest cost of doing business.

Source: Delta Sky Magazine.

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. Mr. Bryant is a thought leader represented by the Bright Sight Group for public speaking. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE), a specialty finance company that is managed by an affiliate of Ares Management LLC, a global alternative asset manager with approximately $59 billion in committed capital under management as of December 31, 2012.

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February 12, 2013

Bryant Speaks at ISFiT 2013 Global Youth Conference, Trondheim, Norway

ISFiT 2013

Feb 13 2013 06:00 PM - Feb 13 2013 08:00 PM

Studentersamfundet

Elgeseter Gate 1, 7030 Trondheim, Norway

ISFiT is arranged every other year, and each festival has a theme related to social and political topics with international relevance. The theme for ISFiT 2013 is global trade, and the festival is held from the 7th to the 17th of February, in the city of Trondheim, Norway. Here, over 450 students from all over the world gather to attend 17 different workshops and take part in the festivals culture program. ISFiT is a non-profit organization and is brought to life with the efforts of more than 400 student volunteers.

Social Entreprenuers on Social Challenges Panel

Humanity is facing many severe social problems. Governments and international organizations are not the only ones trying to come up with solutions. This plenary session features social entrepreneurs, individuals with innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, trying to tackle major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.

Social entrepreneurship is about believing that change can occur also at the lowest levels, and that there are great possibilities to make a change if we, the people, work together. This is not only about big ideas and utopian visions, but about the practical implementations necessary to reach those goals, which are not only aimed towards immediate and small-scale effects, but sweeping, long-term change.

Featured speakers:

James Fierro (CA), founder and CEO of Recipco, the Capacity Exchange, an alternative market and transaction mechanism that reduces organizations dependency on cash and credit.

John Hope Bryant (US), an American financial and poverty eradication activist. He is the founder of operation HOPE and co-founder of Global Dignity.

Celine d'Cruz (IN), coordinator of Slum Dwellers International, a network of community-based organizations of the urban poor that has developed successful mobilisation, advocacy and problem-solving strategies.