NEWSROOM
April 2017
Zak Williams’ advocacy work for financial empowerment at the Hope Global Forum
Talk Media News
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April 2017
CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s Remarks At Operation HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting
BY PYMNTS
Each year, financial literacy empowerment and economic education non-profit organization Operation HOPE hosts its Global Forums Annual Meeting. The purpose of these series of meetings is to help open up the discussion on how the positive effects of a free enterprise can be extended to everyone globally.
At this year’s Operation HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting in Atlanta, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Richard Cordray, delivered remarks on the impact of accessibility to credit reporting on consumers’ everyday lives. He pointed out how the CFPB is intricately linked to Operation HOPE through “the hard and important mission of empowering the economically vulnerable among us.”
April 2017
Q&A: The Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington talks women in journalism, Thrive Global
By: Phil W. Hudson
Atlanta Business Chronicle: You were recently in Atlanta to speak at the 2017 Hope Global Forum, which is a forum where the non-profit Operation Hope Inc. brought in industry, philanthropic and government leaders to outline a vision for the future of the modern global economy. How did it go and what did you speak about?
Arianna Huffington: I love what the Hope Global Forum is doing by helping people through lifting them up. My theme was around the need for internal resilience and job skills.
April 2017
FICO Partners with Operation HOPE to Improve Consumer Financial Health
PR NEWSWIRE
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ —
FICO is teaming up with Operation HOPE, Inc., a global financial dignity and economic empowerment nonprofit, to help consumers by providing FICO® Scores and other information that enables them to better understand their financial health.
Jim Wehmann, executive vice president, Scores, at FICO is delivering a keynote address in Atlanta at the Hope Global Forum, April 11th, at 9:30 am ET.
The new partnership extends FICO’s financial literacy and consumer empowerment initiatives, including FICO® Score Open Access for Credit and Financial Counselors.
April 2017
HOPE Global Forum reconvenes in Atlanta
By: Roz Edward
April 10-12 with Focus on Financial Inclusion, Uplifting the “Invisible Class”
Global financial dignity nonprofit Operation HOPE, Inc. will host the HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting in Atlanta, April 10-12, 2017 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Now the largest gathering of global thought leaders and influencers focused exclusively on financial inclusion and the empowerment of the poor, the Forum will foster critical dialogue to help elevate underserved communities across the nation and around the world.
January 2016
Governor Tim Pawlenty live interview with John Hines
WCCO-AM
January 2016
Youth financial literacy necessary for growth
By: Saudi Gazette
Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 make up 17% of the world population and roughly 40% of the world’s unemployed. Youth have high levels of economic energy, but global trends of unemployment and unrest have led to large numbers of the world’s young population feeling alienated. Banaja shed light on the urgent need to strengthen and enable youth: “we must revive our economies by enabling the youth and equipping them with the skills they need to succeed. The ideal solution with today’s rising economic challenges should reside in finding ‘quick wins’ that could support inclusive and sustainable growth in the coming years.” (Read More)
January 2016
John Hope Bryant
Georgia News Network
January 2016
Economics-based ways of closing U.S. income gaps
By: Ledger-Enquirer
Last week’s Operation HOPE Global Forum in Atlanta was not what most people might envision as the lead-in to a long weekend dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Nevertheless, it was dedicated to one of the late civil rights leader’s most fundamental principles: economic equality for all Americans.
As described the Saporta Report, veteran Atlanta journalist Maria Saporta’s business blog, the fourth annual HOPE Forum was mostly about business-based approaches to greater economic opportunity for Americans living in, or in imminent danger of, poverty. (Read More)
January 2016
Atlanta-based Operation HOPE helping fulfill King’s legacy for economic inclusion
By: SaportaReport
The fourth annual HOPE Global Forum in Atlanta was a testimonial to the economic revolution that Operation HOPE founder John Hope Bryant has been building since 1992.
No, Operation HOPE’s revolution is not a sit-in or a protest march or an ultimatum to big business or Wall Street.
Instead, it works with bankers, business leaders, social activists and civil rights leaders to implement strategies that will help those living below the poverty line as well as the working poor to access the American dream of financial opportunity.
It is not a stretch to say that this is the modern version of what Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned when it called for economic integration combined with social integration. (Read More)
January 2016
HUD Secretary Julián Castro interview with ABC News
KOMO-AM
January 2016
Operation HOPE Founder, Inspiring Change Through Financial Literacy
By: EBONY
A native of Compton and South Central Los Angeles, John Hope Bryant was always a business-savvy kid who sold candy in his neighborhood. Even back then, he understood the value of a dollar and today is diligently trying to teach others the same values. Now, the CEO and Founder of Operation HOPE, a non-profit that brings financial literacy to low-wealth communities, Bryant just wrapped the organization’s 2016 HOPE Global Forums Annual Meeting on Friday. (Read More)
January 2016
HOPE Global Forums 2016: Building financial literacy at an early age creates entrepreneurship
By: Rolling Out
Atlanta was once again at the epicenter for entrepreneurship as the 2016 Hope Global Forums was held in the bustling city. The event brought together civic, business and political leaders from around the world to discuss the systemic poverty that affects the globe. Hope Global Forums 2016 took a deep look at poverty in America and the critical task of increasing financial literacy and building credit scores by finding a viable road out of poverty. (Read More)
January 2016
Baruah: Economic inclusion unlocks community potential
By: The Detroit News
What’s in a name? In some cases, a whole lot.
When the U.S. Treasury Department officially changed the name of the Treasury Annex building in Washington this week to honor the historic Freedman’s Bank, it underscored the importance of economic integration and financial inclusion to the nation’s economic well-being.
For 2015 Mackinac Policy Conference attendees, there’s a familiar face directly involved — John Hope Bryant — who also happens to be bringing his message to the Detroit Policy Conference on Feb. 24. (Read More)
December 2015
Treasury to Name Freedman’s Bank Building
By: U.S. Department of the Treasury
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department today announced that it will mark the 150th anniversary of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (Freedman’s Bank) by naming the Treasury Annex building in Washington, D.C. the Freedman’s Bank Building. The building stands on the site of the original bank that was created to help newly emancipated Americans integrate into the nation’s economy. (Read More)
October 2015
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to Provide Major Policy Address at the 2016 HOPE Global Forum | Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA
ATLANTA, GA – October 8, 2015 – Today, Operation HOPE (HOPE), global financial dignity nonprofit, announced that the Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew will provide keynote remarks at the HOPE Global Forum | Annual Meeting, January 13 – 15th in Atlanta, GA. Set against the backdrop of the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend, Lew is taking this opportunity to provide a major policy address.
This year’s theme is “Business 2.0: Inclusive Economics.” The 2016 Meeting marks the fourth annual gathering and the first appearance of the head of the United States Department of the Treasury. Lew is the 76th Secretary of the Treasury and serves as the principal economic advisor to the President of the United States and plays a key role in policy making around economic and financial policy. Secretary Lew previously served as White House Chief of Staff, prior to his appointment. (Full bio)
The 2016 Annual Meeting will take place at the Marriot Marquis in downtown Atlanta, GA. and will serve as a call to action to inspire innovation and thought leadership around an inclusive global economy that works for all citizens. The event brings together heads of state, C-suite executives, civic and financial leaders to outline a vision for the future of the modern global economy. This vision includes all people as HOPE sees the poor, underserved and teetering middle class as untapped assets for economic growth, entrepreneurship and job creation.
September 2015
John Hope Bryant is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the nonprofit Operation HOPE. He is an economist, financial literacy activist, and a published author, penning How the Poor Can Save Capitalism, the only best-selling book in the world today on economics written by an African-American author. Bryant’s life’s work has all been dedicated to empower the working poor and struggling middle class with the knowledge needed to make capitalism work for them, instead of leaving them out. I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with John Hope Bryant on his most recent work and what fuels his activism. READ MORE
September 2015
Former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, to participate in 2016 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting
Atlanta – September 10, 2015 – Operation HOPE announced today that Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton Administration, will participate in a conversation at the 2016 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting, January 13th – 15th.
Against the backdrop of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday weekend, in the birthplace of the civil rights movement, Operation HOPE will gather some 3,000 delegates to discuss and develop solutions for creating viable and sustainable solutions for a healthy economy, one inclusive of all our citizens.
Long active in public affairs, Mr. Rubin joined the Clinton Administration in 1993 as first Director of the National Economic Council and served as our nation’s 70th Secretary of the Treasury from 1995 until 1999. (Read full bio.) Mr. Rubin is one of the founders of The Hamilton Project, an economic policy project housed at the Brookings Institution that offers a strategic vision and innovative policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans. He is Chairman of the Board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s leading community development support organization and serves as a member of the Boards of Trustees at the Mount Sinai Health System.
July 2015
Ambassador/Dr. Andrew Young Comes to Motown: An Evening of HOPE for Detroiters
As part of a national Operation Hope tour commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Freedman’s Bank, Ambassador Andrew Young was invited to Detroit, Michigan to assist his mentee John Hope Bryant and the Operation Hope team in delivering a powerful message about the importance of inclusive economics. Read
July 2015
Civil Rights Leader Andrew Young Compares Atlanta to Detroit
Civil rights leader Andrew Young compared the rise of Atlanta with that of Detroit during a visit to the city. After working alongside the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Young strove to stimulate economic growth in Georgia. He says his job might have been easier if Atlanta had had some of the features Detroit has.
“If we’d had a river like Detroit has? The leading trading partner for the United States of America is Canada. Everything that comes in here oughta be coming through Detroit. Everything that goes out of the US should be coming through Detroit, you know, but I don’t know why it doesn’t.”-Andrew Young Read/Listen For More
July 2015
Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Hall of Fame Inductee and Humanitarian Will Speak at the 2016 HOPE Global Forum January 13 – 15, in Atlanta
July 2015
Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Hall of Fame Inductee and Humanitarian Will Speak at the 2016 HOPE Global Forum January 13 – 15, in Atlanta
July 2015
Local Legend Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray and OneWest Bank CEO and President Joseph Otting Join Operation HOPE Founder John Hope Bryant at Los Angeles Freedman’s Bank Tour Stop
LOS ANGELES – July 9, 2015 – Operation HOPE announced today Los Angeles Civil Rights leader and Local Legend Rev. Cecil Murray and One West Bank CEO and President Joseph Otting will join HOPE Founder John Hope Bryant at the California African American Museum on July 16. The event celebrates a forgotten and invaluable part of America’s history, the establishment of the Freedman’s Bank.
Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, the Bank was established to spur economic development of formerly enslaved African-American communities. We are using the occasion to host a cutting-edge conversation exploring how the unfinished journey of the Bank can inspire Los Angeles to expand economic opportunity for all our citizens. The Los Angeles stop is part of a year-long, nationwide Tour using the history of the Bank as a catalyst to inspire communities to take control of their economic future.
June 2015
Operation HOPE Announces 2016 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting to Be Held January 13 -15, 2016 in Atlanta
The fourth annual meeting will feature some of the world’s foremost authorities in economics and social mobility
ATLANTA – June 30, 2015 – Against the backdrop of the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday, Operation HOPE will hold the 2016 HOPE Global Forums | Annual Meeting, on January 13 – 15, 2016 in Atlanta, GA, the financial dignity nonprofit announced today.Event co-chairs John Hope Bryant, HOPE founder, chairman, CEO and Ambassador Andrew Young, HOPE Global Spokesman, Civil Rights Icon and Chairman of the Andrew Young Foundation plan to host more than 3,000 global C-suite leaders from government, community and the private sector for three days of discussions, ideas and action.
June 2015
Operation HOPE Announces Beth Ann Bovino, Chief U.S. Economist at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services as a Speaker for 2016 HOPE Global Forum
ATLANTA – June 25, 2015 – Financial dignity leader Operation HOPE announced today that Beth Ann Bovino, U.S. Chief Economist at Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services will be a featured guest speaker on the Main Stage at the 2016 HOPE Global Forum Annual Meeting in Atlanta, January 13 – 15, 2016.
Set against the backdrop of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the annual meeting will be held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, GA. The HOPE Forum is dedicated to curating an elite membership, committed to finding sustainable, transformational economies for underserved communities. The 2016 HOPE Global Forum will bring together Heads of State, C-suite executives, civic and financial leaders to outline a vision for the future of the modern global economy.
May 2015
Lessons from Baltimore: ‘Middle-Class Folks Don’t Riot’
Theories abound as to what caused the recent Baltimore urban riot, and the vast majority of them focus attention on the obvious problems of police, policing, racism, profiling and possible abuse. But looking at these issues is like treating a cough as if it is the actual cold. Social commentators and politicians are addressing the effects of a problem, not the cause. They are reacting to a problem instead of responding to it. Read Full Article Here
April 2015
Operation HOPE Receives $200,000 Award from The UPS Foundation
ATLANTA – April 15, 2015 – Operation HOPE announced today that it is the recipient of a $200,000 grant from The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS (NYSE:UPS), to bolster its financial disaster preparedness division, HOPE Coalition America, and support the 2016 HOPE Global Forum.
“We are pleased for the sustained support of The UPS Foundation,” said Oliver Bell, CEO of Southern Region and Director of HOPE Coalition America for Operation HOPE. “For the last several years, this grant has helped us build self-reliance, financial disaster readiness and recovery in communities that need it most.”
March 11, 2015
FREEDMAN’S BANK TOUR:
Freedman’s Bank Forum on Black Wealth
By: James Wright Special to the AFRO
On March 3, Operation HOPE, a financial literacy and activism non-profit, and the Afro-American Historical Society of the National Archives commemorated the Freedman’s Bank. This financial institution was signed into existence by President Abraham Lincoln, 150 years ago to help freed slaves establish themselves monetarily. Operation HOPE’s CEO John Hope Bryant participated in a forum that was held at the National Archives, and was joined by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young; the Rev. Dr. Bernice King, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; journalist Donna Owens; Roland Martin, host of TV One’s News One Now show; and Barry Wides, deputy comptroller of community affairs for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, to talk about how Blacks can use the experience of Freedman’s Bank to improve their financial condition. “At the end of the day,” Martin said “it’s all about money in America.” … Read Full Article Here
Mar 6, 2015
The Freedman’s Savings Bank: Good Intentions Were Not Enough; A Noble Experiment Goes Awry
Savings Bank (officially the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company) began with a sense of high moral purpose. Its founders understood that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slaver. Read Full Article Here
Mar 6, 2015
Lessons of the Freedman’s Bank still hold 150 years later
By: Staff Reporter – Washington Business Journal
“Freedman’s functioned smoothly for the first five years of its life, but Congress amended its charter in 1870 giving it authority to invest half its deposits in riskier assets, and those new powers opened the door to fraud, speculation and mismanagement,” Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry said during a small anniversary event this week. “Those lessons in speculation and concentration ring true today.”
Read Full Article Here
January 2015
Wells Fargo Renews its Commitment as Lead Sponsor for 2016 HOPE Global Forum
LOS ANGELES — Multinational banking leader Wells Fargo has renewed their Platinum Partnership for the HOPE Global Forum Annual Meeting, Operation HOPE announced today. The 2016 event is scheduled for January 13-15 in Atlanta, set against the backdrop of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. This will mark the third consecutive year Wells Fargo has served as lead partner. Read Full Article Here
January 2015
A Case for More Conscious Capitalism
By: Dr. Roshawnna Novellus, EA
I’m still feeling inspired and warm after bearing witness to the amazing inclusive economics talk given by Former President Bill Clinton at the Hope Global Forum in Atlanta, GA. The purpose of the conference was to explore the why and how to expand free enterprise on the global level. These numbers panels, discussions and work sessions explored how empowering communities with access to technology, electricity and capital made them economically better as a whole. It is interesting that being a capitalist often means that you do not consider being conscious to communities or the negative externalities generated by the work that you do. For instance, if you can market a beverage to a community, why not market one that is better for health and well being while still seeking to enhance your profit margin? Going the more conscious route is actually possible.
April 11, 2017
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January 14, 2016
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June 30, 2015
SAVE THE DATE
Freedman’s Bank Tour on C-SPAN3’s
American History TV
Catch the broadcast of a lively and substantive discussion on the history of the Freedman’s Bank and how it’s unfinished mission still resonates today. Conversation moderated by Roland Martin featuring Ambassador Andrew Young, Dr. Bernice A. King, Operation HOPE Chairman John Hope Bryant and other distinguished guests. The program will air on Sunday, March 22 at 8am ET and again the following weekend on Sunday, March 29 at 1:45pm ET.
March 3, 2015
February 19, 2015
January 16, 2015
January 15, 2015
Visit Operation HOPE for additional news and information.