John Hope Bryant

Huffington Post ~ Solving Poverty: A Business Plan Called 'Hard Work'

 

John Hope Bryant

Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur

Real success does not have to be complicated when a commitment to work is present.

This week I met Mr. Eric McLean, a mobile notary public here in Atlanta, Ga. who came by my office to have me sign some documents. As we signed documents I asked a fairly simply question -- "Eric, how did you become a notary?" I just assumed that this was a part time source of income for Eric. That's what I get for assuming.

Eric told me that he sort of stumbled into the business, paying $36 for a notary stamp to the City. He committed himself to working hard, and his first month he told me he made over $1,000.00 in extra income. By his 8th month in business, he was making $17,000.00 --- per month! At moments like this I am reminded that often times the blue collar worker driving the beat up plumber's van often makes more money and a better living than the so-called professional in the Mercedes Benz next to him on the highway.

Eric the notary went on to tell me that he had 10 other mobile notaries working for him in around Atlanta, another 35 mobile notaries in the state, and more than 150 mobile notaries in what he called his "national network." His national what?

Read the complete story here.

 

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Operation HOPE, South Africa Report Card 2013

I was inspired to spend a week with my HOPE, South Africa team last week, and found that they have made significant progress around our original promise of instilling and embedding principals of core consumer protection amongst a vulnerable population of women and children.  

Going forward, we will be forging a bold new agenda focused on both consumer protection, and consumer empowerment too -- all leading to local GDP, jobs, small business ownership, entrepreneurship, and important in Africa, creating a generation of what we call "self-employment projects."

Here is a summary of our Operation HOPE, South Africa team's impressive results on the ground there:

• 40,752 youth and adults educated and empowered with financial literacy over the past 5-years.
• 1,739 youth and adults educated and empowered during the first quarter of 2013 alone.
• Approximately 2,000 HOPE Corps volunteers recruited, trained and mobilized in South Africa alone.
• 65 partners supporting our work, inclusive of Sanlam Insurance, our lead signature partner, Citi, the Banking Association of South Africa, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Peace Corps South Africa amongst others.
• Operation HOPE and Banking on Our Future embedded into 60 local schools throughout South Africa.

From the civil rights justice of Nelson Mandela's bold generation of leaders, to the silver rights empowerment agenda available to this one, Operation HOPE is committed to the future prosperity of this great country, and the African continent overall.

Let's go.

John Hope Bryant

 

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Bryant Reflects on Alabama Tornadoes: It Killed More Than Lives

I am so very pleased that Operation HOPE will soon be able to move its 'silver rights' empowerment agenda, and specifically our HOPE Office of Small Business & Entrepreneurship work focused on nurturing and bringing up growing small business, minority small business and entrepreneurship in the state.  I am particularly thankful to leaders in and out of the state that encouraged our engagement on the ground there in the weeks and months following these devastating tornadoes.  Finally, I want to thank the U.S. Economic Development Administration and its leadership for the federal support here, which will be amplified by and further supported with private sector support. More on our plans in and for the state and her people to come.

That said, I was so distressed that in the period immediately following the worst tornadoes recorded in the southern states, and Alabama in particular, Operation HOPE and I were not in a position to help. Ultimately, I was actually a little disappointed in myself.  We followed all the rules.  I and we waited to make sure we had covered all the appropriate bases, paid respect to all leaders at the state, county, city and local level, and we covered all the appropriate protocols as a national partner for FEMA around emergency financial disaster preparedness, response and recovery. We even opened up our national call center for HOPE Coalition America based in Poway, California, a donation made available through our partner CoreLogic.  And yes, of course we helped each and everyone of those that called us.  But what we should have done is different.  

We should have -- no I should have -- simply placed HOPE staff on the ground, immediately and at our own expense if need be. But we did as we were counseled, and on that point I am glad we paid our proper respect to leadership.

What breaks my heart are the countless thousands of poor and struggling low-wealth individuals and families, be they white, black or brown, who never had an opportunity to access the immense federal resources that were available to those impacted by the disaster; from enhanced FEMA support, to low-interest SBA loans for rebuilding, to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  Furthermore, there was the that work I believe we could have done between survivors of disaster, along with the banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other private companies with which we have strong working relationships, and that had substantial investment in the state.  Work such as that we completed successfully for more than 200,000 survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Gallup -HOPE Index 2012 Results Announced Today: U.S. Students' Entrepreneurial Aspirations Still Undeveloped

Children of business owners more entrepreneurially inclined

by Valerie J. Calderon and Shane Lopez

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Entrepreneurial aspirations among fifth- through 12^th-graders in the U.S. remained high and stable over the past year, according to the 2012 Gallup-HOPE Index. About four in 10 students (43%) say they plan to start their own business. Similarly, four in 10 students (42%) say they will invent something that changes the world.

Girls (46%) were slightly more likely to agree they plan to start their own business than boys (40%). Boys (45%) were slightly more likely than girls (40%) to say they will invent something that changes the world.

Read and download the complete report here at Gallup.

 

Operation HOPE Quote of the Day

"Operation HOPE is the private banker to the struggling class."


John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, and author of business bestseller LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass).

Gallup Business Journal: Bankers Should Be Role Models

How banks can combat financial illiteracy by teaching kids business and finance

by Jim Clifton and John Hope Bryant

Okay, bankers hate regulation. We get that. But the global economic crisis has given people some very real reasons to push for regulation. And understandably, bankers and their advocates have pushed back. We're not going to say either side is wrong, but we will say both sides are missing a very important point.

A prominent banker suggested that every bank adopt one or more local schools.

A particularly prominent banker -- a CEO of a major financial institution, no less -- caught the point right away. In a private conversation with one of us, he said that the one thing the banking industry should be required to do is sponsor mandatory financial literacy education.

This is why: The global economic crisis had many causes -- beyond greed and a few bad actors in the financial services sector -- and one of them was the entrenched financial illiteracy of the borrower. Borrowers who should have known better asked, "What's the monthly payment?" instead of "What's the interest rate?" That's dangerous, especially when so much of the economy depends on responsible and sustainable consumer spending.

Read the complete article here at Gallup Business Journal online.

Bankers Should Be Role Models.

Hip Hope Legend Russell Simmons and John Hope Bryant Close Out "Conversation on What Comes Next" During HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit 2012

The HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit on November 14-15, 2012, in the city of Atlanta was a resounding success. The insights, passion and active engagement of the more than 1,500 delegates, 100 speakers and coverage from over 50 media outlets worldwide over the 2-day summit, truly made it a historic event.

The Summit, themed Community, Character and (Responsible) Capitalism included the substantive participation of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Steve Bartlett, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Roundtable (1999-2012), Bill Rogers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Banks, Inc., Michael Arougheti, President of Ares Capital Management, Don Graves, Executive Director of the U.S. President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at the White House, Gallup Chairman and CEO, Jim Clifton, Dr. Bernice A. King and Hip Hop Mogul Russell Simmons. On November 14th we celebrated the grand opening of the HOPE Financial Dignity Center, Atlanta at Ebenezer and hosted the Global Dignity Forum, which featured HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland, Dr. Bernice A. King, Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP and civil rights legend CT Vivian. 

 

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 though leader represented by the Bright Sight Group for public speaking. Mr. Bryant serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, an NYSE Euronext publicly traded company, and a division of $54 billion Ares Capital.

 

John Hope Bryant 'Future Flash' at the NY Forum, Gabon (Africa)

 

I was honored to accept the invitation from my friend Richard Attias, CEO of Attias Associates, and by extension, the President of Gabon, President Bongo, to travel with my personal hero and HOPE Global Spokesman Ambassador Andrew Young to Gabon to speak earlier this year at the NY Forum, Africa (in Gabon).  

My session, around sparking Africa Generation Entrepreneurship, was entitled FUTURE FLASH.

Commendation to the organizers for bringing together world leaders in Gabon, for Africa.  Good things are coming, as a result of this Forum. Stay tuned, and mark my word.

 

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 serves on the board of directors of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, an NYSE Euronext publicly traded company, and a division of $54 billion Ares Capital.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Headline HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is arguably the second most powerful man in the world today.  Considering the global economic crisis, and a world in need of stable new vision for itself, we are deeply, deeply honored to have Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke as our lead keynote speaker for the HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit next month in Atlanta, Georgia.

This meeting will become the 'Davos-action meeting for the empowerment of the poor," and Chairman Bernanke and nearly 100 other top-flight presenters and global leaders will help us to frame a vision for our collective future.

Find out how you can engage with and to become a part of the global summit here.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke | HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit.

John Hope Bryant 'Passion and Purpose' Quote of the Day

"When you do what you love, you run out of time, but you don't run out of energy."

John Hope Bryant


John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, and author of business bestseller LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass).