John Hope Bryant

John Hope Bryant and Operation HOPE Team Visits South Africa This Week

I am honored to be spending the week in South Africa this week, focused on our silver rights empowerment work at Operation HOPE, South Africa, being done in more than six provinces in the country.  

While here I will be encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship, small business ownership and what I call individual job creation (self-employment projects) amongst the generation of young people coming up today in the country.  

These young people have benefited from the incredible and life-changing civil rights justice work done by the likes of former President Nelson Mandela, and my friend Archbishop-Emeritus Desmond Tutu, but all too often these same young people are not seeing that history and tradition translate into what I would call silver rights empowerment opportunities for all, today.  And that means they are then less interested in school, less interested in their families, less interested in "doing right," and less hope for themselves. And the most dangerous person in the world, is the person with no hope.

Our financial literacy work started here 6-years ago has been helpful, and I want to publicly thank the likes of Angela Motshekga, Sean Cleary, Ambassador Andrew Young and former mayor Herman Bailey, all who encouraged me early on to start the office here.  That said, it is not enough. 

New Jersey.Com: First Lady Mary Pat Christie announces $600K grant to Operation HOPE for Sandy relief

First Lady Mary Pat Christie, pictured here last year, announced today that the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund will provide a $600,000 grant to Operation HOPE.Ed Murray/The Star-Ledger 

Nj.com

BRICK — Just two months after Marie O’Boyle and her family moved into a ranch-style home in the Cherry Quay section of Brick, Hurricane Sandy struck. Two feet of water flooded the home.

More than five months later O’Boyle is still waiting on her settlement from her flood insurance company, while her and her husband debate how to rebuild in the most economical way.

"We’re just really having a dilemma about whether to knock it down and put up a modular or rebuild altogether or to raise the existing structure," O’Boyle said. "It’s a complex issue. We keep going back and forth on it."

A grant from the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which is chaired by First Lady Mary Pat Christie, aims to help residents, like O’Boyle, navigate the maze of financial questions that linger for thousands of people affected by the Oct. 29 storm.

"It’s such a labyrinth in terms of what you are allowed to get whether you raise your house, whether you knock it down, whether you got this amount of money from insurance, and it’s hard to figure out all that," Christie said.

The nonprofit group Operation HOPE will try to help storm victims answer those tough questions through its Project Restore HOPE initiative, which received a $600,000 grant from the relief fund. Christie announced the grant today at the recreation center in Brick Township, where one of up to six centers across the state providing free financial counseling will be located.

Read the complete article here.

 

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After Sandy Roundup: Pallone wants $193M for fishing; Relief Fund hands out $600K

From the Video Archives: John Hope Bryant Speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Men's Day, 2009

Ebenezer Baptist Church Men's Day from operationhopedotorg on Vimeo.

 

 

From the Video Archives: John Hope Bryant Visits Lillestrøm High School (February 12, 2013)

 

John Hope Bryant, co-founder of Global Dignity Day, visited Lillestrøm High School on February 12, 2013, to give a speech about role models, dignity and making a difference, as a guest of the US Embassy in Norway.

A special thank you to US Ambassador to Norway Barry White and the U.S. State Department.

 

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President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability Releases Final Report

By: Melissa Koide

3/21/2013

Helping young Americans build strong financial knowledge, skills, and habits will serve them well over their lives and promote sounder and more stable household economies.  This is one of several findings the Presi​dent’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability (Council) included in its final report to President Obama, which was delivered through the Department of the Treasury.

The Council’s report includes a number of recommendations to help improve the financial lives of American individuals and families.  First, the report finds a critical need to bring rigorous financial education to our young people.  Financial education is the foundation for better decision-making, and it should start early and continue to be taught in school. Treasury is responding to this recommendation by establishing a new agenda for the federal government to improve the financial knowledge of our young people through the federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC), which Treasury chairs.  The 21 agencies that are a part of the FLEC are working to equip parents and teachers to be able to better educate students about money basics and paying for college, and help employers communicate with young workers about saving early for long-term needs like retirement. 

US Embassy, Norway: Obama adviser and Global Dignity co-founder John Hope Bryant meet with youth in Oslo

February 12, 2103

John Hope Bryant is the CEO of non-profit Operation HOPE, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability and the co-founder of Global Dignity. (Photo: U.S. Embassy)

Students at Lillestrøm High School gave Hope Bryant spontaneous applause and cheers throughout his speech, and said they felt inspired by his energy and personal approach. (Photo: U.S. Embassy)

On the morning of February 12, the U.S. Embassy had the pleasure of having John Hope Bryant visit Oslo. Bryant is, among many other things, the founder, chairman and CEO of non-profit Operation HOPE, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability and the co-founder of Global Dignity together with Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon.

The day started with a breakfast dialogue meeting at Ambassador White’s residence Villa Otium with a group of young Norwegians involved with various non-profit organizations. Bryant talked to them about the importance of being a good role model in your community, and shared some inspiring stories from his own life.

Bryant went on to visit Lillestrøm high school, where all the 350 11th grade (VG1) students were waiting for him in the school aula. It is fair to say that Bryant mesmerized the crowd with his stories on dignity; in fact, the students gave him spontaneous applause and cheers throughout his speech, and said they felt inspired by his energy and personal approach. Lillestrøm high school takes Global Dignity Day very seriously, and has organized the Day at their school the past three years. The visit of Bryant was a nice reminder of the message of dignity, which according to Bryant is a non-controversial concept we can all agree on and work towards the realization of.

The following day, John Hope Bryant traveled to Trondheim to be a key note speaker at the International Student Festival in Trondheim (ISFiT).

Read the complete and original story here.

 

A Personal Letter from Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman, and CEO John Hope Bryant and Ambassador Andrew Young

Operation HOPE is "the private banker to the working poor, the underclass, and the struggling middle-class," and the impact of our work can be felt on-the-ground, everywhere we operate.  Our mission is 'silver rights,' or making free enterprise and capitalism work for all.  Financial literacy is the tool, financial dignity is the goal and financial inclusion is the way. 

2012 marked new heights for HOPE's silver rights movement as it continued to reach out and empower underserved populations in new and innovative ways. HOPE divisions currently serving the community include:

 

• Banking on Our Future, focused on keeping the most at-risk youth from repeating the cycles of poverty and despair that has trapped so many in their families and communities by teaching them basic financial literacy, or what we call "the global language of money." 

 

• HOPE Business-In-A-Box/Gallup-HOPE Index, focused on inspiring a generation of young people to become future American assets of economic energy, small business and entrepreneurship.

 

• HOPE Financial Dignity Centers, including our newest HOPE Financial Dignity Center at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr''s Ebenezer Church in Atlanta, Georgia, are where we approve clients day one, subject to the resolution of their primary denial factors, and raise credit scores on average 120 points over 18 months of active counseling. We call it the 700 Credit Scores Communities Initiative.  The HOPE Center at Ebenezer marks our 11th HOPE Center across the nation, and is the proud anchor for the new Martin Luther King. Sr. Community Resource Complex next to Ebenezer Church.  Most people know that Daddy King, as he was lovingly called, co-pastored Ebenezer Church with his son, Dr. King, but what they don't know is that Daddy King served on the board of a bank for 40 years.  Even more than 50 years ago, the King legacy was alive with civil rights, and silver rights empowerment, too. A special thank you to our HOPE Center signature partners, including Bank of the West and Union Bank on the west coast, E*TRADE FINANCIAL in New York City and Washington, DC, and at Ebenezer in Atlanta, FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE members SunTrust Bank, State Farm Insurance, LPL Financial/NestWise, Wells Fargo Bank,MasterCard, and BMO Harris Bank, along with supporting partners including the Coca-Cola Company,Kaplan University, Equifax, the United Way of Greater Atlanta, amongst others.

 

• HOPE Coalition America, which is the national partner with FEMA around emergency financial disaster preparedness, response and recovery, or the "economic Red Cross" for the nation.  HCA responded to, and served, more than 200,000 survivors following Hurricane Katrina, and we are responding to Hurricane Sandy now. 

 

• HOPE Government Relations & Public Policy, and HOPE Forums, which both advance responsible public policy and help to shape, engaged public opinion.  The recent HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summitfeaturing U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, with more than 1,500 delegates from 30 countries, covered by 50 major media outlets, is but one example of our focus here.

Read the complete personal letter on the HOPE Blog here.

FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg To Be Featured in HOPE Forum, Atlanta

Fred D. Smith Appointed President of Operation HOPE Division, HOPE Coalition America

Here, Fred D. Smith joins former President Bill Clinton in Gulfport, Mississippi and La. in response to Hurricane Katrina.  Fred Smith was instrumental in standing up our impressive HOPE Coalition America (HCA) response to Hurricane Katrina.  Mr. Smith was also instrumental in the founding of HCA from the start, following the horrors of 9/11 in New York City.

As a direct result of Mr. Smith's leadership in this new space of emergency financial disaster preparedness, response and recovery, HCA has now been a national partner with FEMA for almost a decade, and has responded to more than 25 Presidentially declared national disasters since inception, having served more than 250,000. Mr. Smith also helped lead the formulation of our important national agreement with the American Red Cross, where we assist them with financial case management for survivors of disasters.

Today, Mr. Smith co-leads our HCA response to Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast, and is already assisting countless individuals.

2012 Gallup-HOPE Index Findings Show Gap Between Entrepreneurship Aspirations and Work Experience for American Youth

Education experts convene to discuss solutions to capitalize on economic energy of students

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Silver rights" nonprofit Operation HOPE, a leader in financial dignity, joined with Gallup to announce findings from the 2012 Gallup-HOPE Index (GHI), a joint project to encourage entrepreneurial development among youth. The organizations also co-hosted a panel discussion on comprehensive solutions to encourage economic and entrepreneurial achievement for America's youth.

The GHI is an annual survey that measures engagement, hope and economic energy of fifth through 12^th grade students in the U.S. Through exploration of students' future aspirations and their access to the necessary education and experience needed to achieve these goals, the study can inform educational programs and resources to help students become meaningful participants in the nation's economy. Initiated in 2011, the GHI is part of Gallup's 100 year commitment with Operation HOPE to assess the attitudes and behaviors often ascribed to entrepreneurs and to provide government and business leaders with data about student sentiment nationwide.

Results from the 2012 GHI reveal that America's youth are optimistic about the future and many have entrepreneurial ambitions. The results, based on a nationally representative survey of 1,217 students, show that 43 percent of students plan to start their own businesses. The poll also found that students understand the value of education, with 93 percent agreeing that there is a relationship between level of education and earning potential. Fifty-nine percent said their school offers classes in how to start and run a business.