John Hope Bryant

Bryant Speaks for 7th Annual 100 Black Men Youth Summit, Decatur, Georgia

 

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Led by my Atlanta team, James Bailey and Tara Dennis at Operation HOPE, while HOPE held Banking on Our Future financial literacy courses featuring our BB&T Bank HOPE Corps volunteers, I spoke before all assembled youth (approximately 800 total) for the 100 Black Men of Decalb County, 7th Annual Youth Summit 2012, in Decatur, Georgia.  Impressed with this incredible group of young leaders in the making, I was also blown away that the beautiful center we gathered in -- the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center -- was built in honor of an African-American entrepreneur, as well as a member of the 100.  

Porter Sanford, III went to college in Atlanta, at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), started a barber shop as his first business, and later opened Salford Realty in 1965.  Sanford Realty went on to become a major force in Decalb County, creating jobs and responsible for millions of dollars of economic activity in the greater Atlanta region.  Not satisfied with running a successful business, he became engaged in community; helping to found 100 Black Men of Dekalb County and the Samuel Jones Boys Club.

A great day, which also celebrated the legacy of an inspiring entrepreneur, and the young entrepreneurs that will now follow his lead.

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. 

 

 

John Hope Bryant Speaks to Parents, Youth About MAKING SMART COOL, Stay in School

 

I recorded this important video message after visiting a Georgia school, and talking to youth (of all races) about the "dumbing down of America," and how it is their mission to MAKE SMART COOL again.  Check it out, and pass it on!  The 5MK movement is in full-effect.

 

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. 

Martin Luther King, Sr. "Silver Rights" Quote of the Day

On the tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., the message is: “I LOVE EVERYONE. STILL IN BUSINESS. JUST MOVED UPSTAIRS.

 

ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE: Ebenezer helps bring back a business ministry and mission to historic Auburn Avenue

By Maria Saporta

The inscription couldn’t be more appropriate.

On the tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., the message is: “I LOVE EVERYONE. STILL IN BUSINESS. JUST MOVED UPSTAIRS.

The legacy of “Daddy King” — as he was known to close friends and family — will live on through the M.L. King Sr. Community Resource Complex, which is under construction next to Ebenezer Baptist Church. King Sr. was a pastor at Ebenezer — a role he shared with his son — Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

On Sunday afternoon, Ebenezer held a program spotlighting the “business” side of Daddy King — someone who combined his religious teachings with economic lessons of self-sufficiency.

His daughter, Christine King Farris, said Daddy King had a mind for business.

“He knew how to handle his funds,” Farris said. “That’s how he got on the board of directors of Citizens Trust Bank. I almost followed him. I worked at Citizens Trust, and I majored in economics.”

King Sr. joined the board of Citizens Trust in the 1950s, where he served for several decades.

“Daddy King struggled with whether he wanted to be a businessman or a preacher,” said John Hope Bryant at the Ebenezer program on Sunday. “He did both.”

Read the complete story here.

 

 

Happening Tomorrow in Atlanta

Announcing at Ebenezer Church in Atlanta, Georgia: From Civil Rights to Silver Rights, A Conversation on Leadership

This coming Sunday, February 12th, 2012, at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church led by my friend and partner, Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, I will join both civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young and Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, the 5th pastor of America's freedom church in its more than 125 year history, for a special CONVERSATION ON LEADERSHIP: From Civil Rights to Silver Rights, and the new Civil Roghts Issue of Financial Dignity.

Operation HOPE is partnering with Ebenezer Baptist Church to build the HOPE Financial Dignity, Ebenezer, which will be the anchor tenant and partner in the new Martin Luther King, Sr. Community Resource Complex at Ebenezer, and within the broader King Center complex.  The HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Ebenezer is supported by the FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE and its members SunTrust Bank, State Farm Insurance, LPL Financial, Wells Fargo and MasterCard, as well as the US Economic Development Administration, the Coca-Cola Company and the United Way of Greater Atlanta.

Hosted by the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church but not limited to members of Ebenezer, if you are a leader in the greater Atlanta area, you can contact Operation HOPE, Atlanta to RSVP at 404-941-2919, or to get additional information.

 

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. 

 

Operation HOPE founder John Hope Bryant meets with President Bill Clinton

Today I was deeply honored to meet and spend substantive time one on one with former U.S. President (and my friend) William Jefferson Clinton, in his Clinton Foundation office in Harlem, New York.  I was also pleased to have with me Mrs. Mary Hagerty Ehrsam, our global chief of financial dignity.  Our government relations chief, Ms. Jena Roscoe who worked for President Clinton in the second term at the White House, did not join us but she was there with us in spirit.

We covered a range of items of mutual interest to both his foundations and the Operation HOPE family, both domestic and international, including the new Gallup-HOPE Index and the Gallup-HOPE Index Cities Initiative.  We actually presented President Clinton and his staff with the first draft copy of the Gallup-HOPE Index 2011 Report, which will be mailed out nationwide to leaders later this month.  We also briefed the President on the HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Ebenezer which is presently under construction in Atlanta (at the King Center complex and within th new Martin Luther King, Sr. Community Resource Complex), our new HOPE Office of Small Business & Entrepreneurship which will be formally announced to the public on my birthday, February 6th, 2012, along with our new HOPE Business-In-A-Box and the HOPE FILE Program (HOPE Fellows, HOPE Interns and HOPE Loan Executive Programs).

HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Ebenezer on the Move in Atlanta

Special From Gainesville Sun: Banquet speaker talks class, money

John Hope Bryant was the keynote speaker at the 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame Banquet.

Buy PhotoBRAD McCLENNY/Special to the Guardian

By CLEVELAND TINKER
Special to the Guardian

Published: Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 5:27 p.m.

Life in the 21st century is about economic freedom more than anything else for blacks in Gainesville, the U.S. and people around the world.

That was the message delivered by John Hope Bryant at the 27th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Hall of Fame Banquet Sunday night to more than 325 people at the Paramount Plaza Hotel.

Read the complete story here.

 

Operation HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Ebenezer ~ On The Move in Atlanta

This is literally a "steel out of the ground" silver rights movement, under way right now in Atlanta, at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and America's "Freedom Church."

The HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Ebenezer serves as the anchor tenant and partner for the Martin Luther King, Sr Community Resource Complex, next to Ebenezer and on the broader King Center site.

Partners in HOPE Center, Ebenezer, led and organized by Steve Bartlett (CEO) and the FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE, include Suntrust Bank, State Farm Insurance, LPL Financial, Wells Fargo, MasterCard, Coca-Cola, the United Way of Greater Atlanta and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.  This commitment from the FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE is a highlight feature of the HOPE-FSR National Framework Agreement for Financial Literacy, designed to bring financial literacy into the C-Suite of America's financial leaders, and to make it a 'business case' for those involved.

A special thank you to Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, for seeing the vision here for silver rights, and moving to make it real in people's lives.

The best is yet to come.  Stay tuned....

 

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.