John Hope Bryant

Operation HOPE 21: Telling The Story of Our Founding

21 years ago, this day, May 5th, 2013, the bold vision of and for Operation HOPE was born in South Central Los Angeles, immediately following the Rodney King Riots of April 29th, 1992.

"Rainbows, after storms.  You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first."

After the Rodney King verdict came down, so many things just went dark in the community I loved so much. The community I still love.  But not all things were negative, in the days and weeks and months that followed.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters and her local leadership group, led by Brenda Shockley as I recall, stood up their vision of and for Community Build. Today, Congresswoman Waters serves on the financial services committee for Congress, continuing to push her agenda for her people.

Then City Counciman Mark Ridkey-Thomas, who today is an esteemed and accomplished lead member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.  I fondly remember Supervisor Ridley-Thomas for so many reasons, but a couple stand out for me.  Mark (as I respectfully call him as a friend) served on our first board of directors for Operation HOPE. I remember our parting conversation. It was our first letterhead. We were committed to "eradicating poverty across America," and Mark (Ridley-Thomas) wanted to eradicate poverty and empower people IN THE 8TH DISTRICT!  We were both right, but Councilman Ridley-Thomas was more right than me.  He was 100% focused on empowering and serving the people in the district he was elected to serve.  This impresses me now, as much as it impressed me then.  I was sad to see Ridley-Thomas leave our board back then, by I so respected "why" he did it.  I also got the phrase "With HOPE," which has become my global signature sign-off statement on all correspondence, from Mr. Ridley-Thomas.  Finally, back then I would say that Ridley-Thomas was the only sitting elected official who really knew and understood community development, community empowerment, and the power of financial dignity in one's life.  

Operation HOPE and HUD Counseling: Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline Results

Lance Triggs, who is president of HOPE Financial Dignity Centers nationally, and CEO of Operation HOPE, Los Angeles, reports in on the following results around our Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline work, which involves our national HUD approved counselors and financial dignity counseling programs.

Below is a highlight summary:

 2008 - 2012  RESULTS

• OVER 166,000 incoming calls.
• OVER $560 million in loans modified or restructured.
• Educated and assisted over 26,000 people on foreclosure prevention.
• Assigned 8,000 of those individuals to a counselor for further assistance Average loan amount per loan modification was $341,463.

MORTGAGE CRISIS HOTLINE CLIENT SURVEY 

507 survey responses after receiving a loan modification:

• 80.4% are still current with their mortgage.
• Only 9% are currently late (1-6 months) with their mortgage. 
• 3% sold their home.
• 93% have not defaulted on their loan.

I am very proud of my Operation HOPE team led by Lance Triggs.

A special thank you to lead sponsors and partners that have underwritten major components of Lance Triggs' division, including E Trade Financial, Bank of the West, Union Bank, CoreLogic, JP Morgan Chase and so many others.

 

 

An Invitation to Leaders: Operation HOPE and HOPE Forums to Host FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg at the HOPE Financial Dignity Center Ebenezer, Atlanta, Georgia

For information on how you might be able to participate, contact HOPE Forums Deputy Director Jodi Brockington.

The HUFFINGTON POST: Solving Poverty. WANTED: A New Revolution of 100 Million Youth in the Middle East

  John Hope Bryant

Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur

The Middle East then and now. The choice is simply one of lighting candles, or cursing the darkness, but it is a choice that the leaders there must make. We cannot do it for them.

On September 12th, 2012, I had just returned from the Middle East region on the day prior to the devastating Libyan terrorist act of September 11th, 2012. I was visiting Saudi Arabia, and experiencing a very positive engagement with business and political leaders in the region, as we launched an aspect of our empowerment work there. I had been invited to speak before the Young President's Organization (YPO), even the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce. I met with the Minister of Labor for Saudi Arabia, who was but one of the leaders in the audience during my Chamber speech, fully engaged around a new vision and plan for the region's youth. It was obvious to me, these leaders had made a clear choice to "light a candle" towards the future.

Libya on the other hand, and thereafter other trouble spots throughout the Middle East region, unfortunately chose to turn backwards, simply cursing the darkness. At the end of the day, I choose to stay focused on that which I saw with my own eyes and experienced personally; substantive, new era leaders who have decided to light candles and build a society for all. Candles towards a brighter future. The respectful opening up of society. A view towards helping the average person to achieve their own level of aspirational success. Not a western version of aspirational success, but one of their own making. One that respected, and in fact embedded their deep and rich cultural beliefs.

I traveled to Saudi Arabia with a simple message -- in the MENA Region (Middle East and North Africa), according to the World Bank you have a population that will be 60% under the age of 25 by 2020, and in Saudi Arabia this is already the case.

Read and share the complete article here.

 

 

 

HOPE Business In A Box ~ An Initiative That Will Change America

 

And here is our official HOPE Business In A Box video for 2013. Enjoy.

Keep your eyes peeled for our America 2020 Campaign, our national campaign to save America, by Americans, everyday between now and 2020.

Let's go.

 

 

 

Presenting the Operation HOPE Business in a Box, Atlanta Pilot Program Competition

 

This short video says it all. It is the "magic" that we have been talking about. That I have been dreaming about, ever since I came up with the vision of and for HOPE Business In A Box this time last year on my my birthday.  My birthday is February 6th, 2013, and seeing this vision made real is the best birthday present that this "proud pappa" could have (smile).

Thank you to Mary Hagerty, president of the HOPE Youth Empowerment Group, the Atlanta team, led by Jay Bailey, Tara Dennis (youth agenda) and others there, along with everyone who helped to make this real.  

A special thank you to Ms. Natasha L. Foreman, MBA, dedicated HOPE Corps volunteer, small business owner and the HOPE Business In A Box coordinator in Atlanta, Georgia.  She worked tirelessly to see this through from concept to reality for these bright young kids (our leaders for the future) in Atlanta.  

Bill Rogers Extends Commitment to Financial Literacy by Joining Operation HOPE’s National Board of Directors

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SunTrust Banks, Inc. CEO becomes newest “silver rights” ambassador for the financial dignity nonprofit

LOS ANGELES – January 17, 2013 – Operation HOPE (HOPE) was pleased to announce today the appointment of William H. Rogers, Jr., SunTrust Banks, Inc.  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to its National Board of Directors. Rogers’s extensive executive experience and commitment to HOPE’s Silver Rights Mission reaffirms the organization’s position as the global leader for financial dignity. Rogers’ appointment is only his latest effort to promote financial dignity with Operation HOPE. 

 

“Through SunTrust, Bill Rogers played a key role in bringing the HOPE Financial Dignity Center Atlanta, at Ebenezer into fruition,” said John Hope Bryant, HOPE Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are delighted to have a leader with the expertise and capability that Mr. Rogers brings. His participation will help ensure success for our national as well as international mission to empower underserved communities.” 

 

During his two-year board term, Rogers will provide leadership, guidance and help generate ongoing support for HOPE programs and activities.  He also will be an active member, participating in national and international events to highlight the importance of financial literacy and dignity.  

Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, Secretary Alphonso Jackson Takes a Seat on the HOPE National Board of Directors

LOS ANGELES – January 31, 2013 – Financial dignity nonprofit Operation HOPE (HOPE) today announced the appointment of former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, Vice-Chairman of Consumer & Community Banking with JPMorgan Chase in New York City, to HOPE’s National Board of Directors. With this appointment, Jackson becomes the organization’s most recent Silver Rights Ambassador in its mission to make free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities.

 

“Operation HOPE is honored to welcome Secretary Alphonso Jackson to its National Board of Directors,” said John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and CEO of HOPE. “The expertise and dedication Mr. Jackson brings to the board further ensures the success of our national programs. We believe his support will be a defining factor towards making our movement become a reality."

 

Jackson will provide leadership, guidance and help generate ongoing support for HOPE programs and activities during his two-year service on the board. He also will be an active member, participating in national and international events to highlight the role and importance of financial literacy and dignity. 

 

“I worked with John Hope Bryant when I was Secretary, and John enlightened me about the importance of financial literacy in the United States, generally and in underserved communities specifically,” Jackson stated. “I am pleased to be a part of the movement to help improve financial literacy and dignity in America.”

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.

Operation HOPE and Private Sector Join to Provide Disaster Financial Recovery to Individuals Affected by Hurricane Sandy

Ares Capital, Allstate, Aon, HSBC, and Transunion among corporate partners joining commitment

NEW YORK, Jan. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Operation HOPE, Inc. (HOPE) is pleased to announce it is joining forces with private and public sector organizations to provide long-term financial recovery information, guidance and empowerment services to small businesses, families and individuals devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Ares Capital, Allstate, Aon, HSBC, and Transunion are among the initial group of companies making a commitment to help the HOPE recovery initiative - Project Restore HOPE: Hurricane Sandy.

Project Restore HOPE is a collaboration of Operation HOPE's disaster preparedness and recovery division, HOPE Coalition America (HCA), private sector financial institutions and government agencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also been an avid supporter and team member of Project Restore HOPE. The goal of the team project is to provide long-term economic revitalization and empowerment services and programs to survivors of Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey on-the-ground, and via a toll-free hotline in the District of Columbia and the other 11 recovering states. The effort will provide financial guidance to the survivors of the hurricane, including:

• Recovery budget preparation and emergency credit management 
• Working with individuals to help them understand and complete the insurance claim process
• Referrals to government and private agencies providing assistance 
• Assistance with obtaining copies of lost or destroyed documents 
• Assistance completing applications for grants and loans 
• Assistance with modifying and restructuring credit and loan obligations

The announcement comes following a meeting hosted by Michael Arougheti , president of Ares Capital, in New York City on December 11. Executives from the country's top financial services firms, accounting firms, law firms, as well as public sector leaders from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) attended to discuss Hurricane Sandy recovery and their commitments. The meeting included a presentation by FEMA Deputy Administrator Tim Manning , who briefed corporate partners on the status of recovery efforts in the areas most impacted by the hurricane and on the need for more private sector support for individuals and small businesses.  

"The destruction that was experienced by hundreds of thousands of residents in the tri-state area due to Hurricane Sandy was felt deeply within the business community," said Michael Arougheti , president of Ares Capital. "This meeting was a first step in our effort to demonstrate the business community's commitment to help impacted families and individuals get back on their feet. I am pleased with the working partnership that has been formed with Operation HOPE, FEMA, Ares Capital and other partners, as we are deeply invested in this recovery effort."