John Hope Bryant

Operation HOPE Announces 20 Year Service Report Card

 

The Operation HOPE family is proud to present our 20th anniversary "Report Card" on financial dignity, service leadership and the financial and economic empowermwent of our people, to our people.  The below is our report to the world.  Let me know what you think of our global results to date, and the results we have achieved to date on behalf of others. 

Operation HOPE Announces 20 Year Service Report Card.

20 Years Old Today: Operation HOPE 's Founder Reports on Progress

20 years ago today, on May 5th, 1992, the organization that would change my life and give my life both purpose and incredible meaning -- Operation HOPE -- was born.  

Born after the worst riot and civil unrest in our nation's history, I remember my own personal frustration in the hours and days following the rioting in South Central Los Angeles. I also remember precisely right where I was, at the exact time when our community seemed to come unglued.  I was standing in my westside offices for Bryant Group Companies, then located at Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevard in the Westwood Gateway complex buildings.  I was standing there, looking at my community burn.  

I will tell my own personal story in a separate post, but needless to say, what I saw, made me want to act.  And act we did.  Soon, Operation HOPE had assembled its first loyal employees, led by my chief of staff Rachael Doff who is still with me today, soon followed by Lance Triggs, now executive vice president, and not long thereafter came Mary Hagerty, now Mrs. Mary Hagerty Ehrsam, who is first senior vice president and global chief of financial literacy. Then came our own Jena Roscoe, who literally walked out the door from her last job at the White House working in the second term of President Bill Clinton, to run our then new Operation HOPE Office of Government Relations and Public Policy.  And then there was my best friend Rod McGrew, who was the first HOPE Corps volunteer for the organization.  And then there was Fred Smith, our first president, and so many others. Slowly, all the executive and senior leadership team pieces began to come together.

HOPE has four principle divisions, HOPE Coalition America, HOPE Financial Dignity Centers (featuring 700 Credit Score Communities), Banking on Our Future and our newest division, HOPE Business In A Box (inclusive of the Gallup-HOPE Index), and has now been on the move for 20 years, serving South Central Los Angeles and countless underserved communities across the country; even around the world, just like it.  

Here is a quick snapshot of our global results (not including the work and results of Global Dignity, a sister organization to Operation HOPE):

$1.4 billion – the amount raised and invested by HOPE in and for the under-served population, from private and public sources. 

1,000 Plus - the number low-wealth homeowners and small business owners created and funded with responsible mortgage and small business loans.   

Just one of these countless minority owned small business success stories is Drobe Clothing (http://www.drobe.com/Story.html). I purchase all of my professional suits from this HOPE success story, paying full retail, which is recycling black dollars too. Drobe was created by a young black man, not much older than myself when I started Operation HOPE, and now it employs 6 local people, pays its local taxes, and in so doing adds to the whole of Los Angeles.  This is the real story of where most jobs come from.

$500 Million - the value of the subprime mortgages that the Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline has modified or restructured in the subprime crisis, at no cost to the borrower. 

155,243 – the number of individuals directly assisted by the National Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline.

241,577 – the number of individuals educated in the homebuyer, credit, small business, EITC, and foreclosure prevention workshops.

150,000 – the number of individuals HOPE served in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  And we are still there, serving others years after.

$15 Million – the amount of Earned Income Tax Credits funded to survivors of Hurricane Katrina alone.

273 – the number of cities in the U.S. and South Africa where HOPE currently exists.

5,000 – number of current HOPE partnerships with private sector companies, non-profit organizations, schools and government entities.

30,369 – the number youth and adults educated through the Banking on Our Future program in South Africa alone.

45,828 – the number HOPE Cyber Cafés memberships, including the Cyber Cafe at 3721 South La Brea Avenue, in L.A.

2,000,000 – individuals served to date through HOPE’s Empowerment programs, Banking on Our Future, the HOPE Financial Dignity Centers and HOPE Coalition America.

Today, HOPE is headquartered at Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street in Downtown, L.A. and led there by our president and chief operating officer Mr. Bill Walbrecher.

Operation HOPE Founder John Hope Bryant Welcome New HOPE Fellow Lucas Turner Owens

This week the Operation HOPE family was honored to welcome on board our newest member -- HOPE Fellow Lucas Turner-Owens. Lucas, a college student, has been assigned to the Operation HOPE Government Relations and Public Policy portfolio, or specifically supporting me on the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, and as chairman of the Council Subcommittee on the Underserved and Community Empowerment.

Lucas Turner Owens comes from Wesleyan University in Massachusetts, and is a HOPE Fellow supporting my role on the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, Subcommittee on the Underserved and Community Empowerment.

And here is a little more about the leadership engagement of Lucas Turner Owens. http://www.sansori.org/crew/team_members.html

Lucas will be working from our new, soon-to-be-announced offices at Gallup in Washington, D.C.

Welcome on board Lucas. Honored to be associated.

Okay, let's go...

 

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. 

 

A Call to Serve: Banking on Our Future Volunteer Natasha Foreman | Operation HOPE Blog

 

This is an incredbly powerful message, from one of our most passionate and committed HOPE Corps volunteers in Atlanta, Georgia.  Check it out, and share it with our friends.

A Call to Serve: Banking on Our Future Volunteer Natasha Foreman | Operation HOPE Blog.

From the HOPE Archives: John Hope Bryant and Ambassador Andrew Young at B.E.S.T Academy

 

The Founding Donors for new Operation HOPE Business-In-A-Box Program for America's Youth

Introducing HOPE Business-In-A-Box, and the first founding $50.00 donors to the program for youth entrepreneurship development -- Mr. and Mrs. Spence and Jean Wiles.

Jean and Spence presented this $50.00 check to me on my birthday, establishing themselves as the first donors to this amazing new initiative to inspire a generation of entrepreneurs, small business owners and "self-employment projects."  A special thank you as well goes out to Claude and Juanita Bryan, who also made a commitment on the same evening to sponsor another HOPE Business-In-A-Box.

HOPE Business-In-A-Box is a signature initiative of and for our new HOPE Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, all launched during my birthday week.  Here is how it works....

HOPE National Board Member Stephen Ryan, Esq Becomes First Individual Donor to HOPE Fellows Program

Today I was thrilled to accept a $5,000 personal commitment from Operation HOPE national board member Stephen Ryan, Esq, partner in McDermott, Will & Emery in Washington, D.C., for a partial HOPE Fellows scholarship for 2012-2013. The Stephen Ryan-Operation HOPE Fellow, once selected, will work in the Washington, D.C. office of Operation HOPE, alongside Jena Roscoe, chief of Government Relations and Public Policy for Operation HOPE.

A special thank you to director Stephen Ryan, Esq!  We hope that countless others follow his lead in the weeks, months and years to come!

Okay, let's go...

 

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 Introduces HOPE FILE Program: HOPE Fellows, HOPE Interns and HOPE Loan Executives

 

And this was one of my really special birthday presents, from me and the HOPE family to the world. Enjoy. Engage.  Let's go.

 

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. 

Welcome to Mrs. Latresa McLawhorn-Ryan, Esq. as Newest Member of Operation HOPE Family

The Operation HOPE family is honored and pleased to welcome Mrs. Latresa McLawhorn-Ryan, Esq., as the new Operation HOPE Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Development.  Latresa will serve as a "foundational builder" of sorts in and around our Operation HOPE Development Group, and has a history of impressive personal and professional achievement behind her.  Amongst other accomplishments, Latresa started and ran her own small business (legal and trust activities) in Washington, D.C. and later Atlanta, Georgia, where she now resides (with her husband Andrew Ryan).

Congratulations to Operation HOPE's Elaine Fischer on Promotion and Global Role

 

I am pleased and proud to announce the promotion of Elaine Fischer to Deputy Director, Office of Innovation, Research, and Assessment (OIRA) and Global Director of HOPE Corps.

Most recently, Elaine managed our Banking on Our Future program in Denver, Colorado where she exceeded all partner expectations and made Banking on Our Future a household name among the private and public sector including Denver district school officials.   

Elaine is an outstanding professional whose talent, education, experience and insight will be critical in charting a successful course for OIRA and HOPE Corps through a complex business environment that demands dedication, commitment, and knowledge.

Elaine earned a PhD, in Econometrics and Political Science, ABD and received and an M.A. in Econometrics and Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, in May 2008 from the University of Colorado.

Bravo Elaine Fischer. Your Operation HOPE family is proud of you.