Inside the personal life and public world of community leader, business builder, government advisor, author, speaker and advocate for poverty eradication -- John Bryant.
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Quote of the Day
"Real love is showing love, when you feel like being loving the best."
John Hope Bryant
Third Study Shows African American Students
Operation HOPE expands reach of "silver rights" initiative to deliver financial literacy program aimed at helping teens and young adults think more strategically about spending
LOS ANGELES, CA - November 19, 2008 - Recent survey results show African American high-school seniors and college students are still trailing behind their white counterparts in financial literacy, according to a study issued today by "silver rights" organization Operation HOPE (HOPE). The nonprofit believes the outcome reflects an increased need for financial education.
Dr. Lewis Mandell's commissioned report compares test results of African American students, and shows that financial literacy of African Americans is related to income, among other things. For the third time, results reflect a decline in scores.
When contrasted with the financial literacy of whites with the same incomes, the highest income African Americans (those with family incomes above $80,000) had financial literacy scores that were just 71.9 percent of whites. In contrast, the lowest income African Americans had financial literacy scores that were 95.6 percent that of whites in the same income group. The report also revealed that African American students are better spenders than savers.
In contrast to young white adults, African American high school seniors of the same age are more likely to use credit and debit cards, are less likely to have a bank account, and are less likely to work part-time or summers while they are still in high school. This orientation toward consumption and away from saving may help explain higher relative scores of African Americans on spending rather than saving questions.
However, the picture brightens slightly as high-school African Americans move on to college. In 2008, the nationwide financial literacy survey included college students; as anticipated, college students in general turned out to be far more financially literate than high school seniors. College students carried a mean score of 61.9 percent compared to 48.3 percent for high school seniors. Also improving was the racial gap between African Americans and whites, which closed to 88.9 percent for college students as opposed to 78.7 percent for high school seniors.
The gap has prompted Operation HOPE to expand its "silver rights" campaign - developing a program to stem the high-school drop-out epidemic by educating 5 million youth, their teachers, parents and guardians in financial literacy. Additionally, in 2008 the organization began a five-year partnership with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to provide money management skills to students of the 105 HBCUs nationwide.
"Education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool," said Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant. "While all young Americans are in need of and deserve to learn financial survivorship skills, this is particularly important for African Americans who currently lag in both the financial resources and financial literacy necessary to become stakeholders in our 'ownership' society."
Of the 6,856 students who took the national survey, 13.6% or 931 were African American. Additional statistics show that:
African American students from the lowest income families had a financial literacy score of 47.6 % and African American students from the highest income families had a score of 54.8%.
African American students scored 36.7% on Money Management, 37.1% on Savings but 43.2% on Spending.
This survey is the third report commissioned by Operation HOPE in cooperation with Dr. Lewis Mandell of the University at Buffalo School of Management and the Jump$art Coalition that tracks the financial literacy of African American young adults as a stand-alone group. Click here to access the full report.
About Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy The 2008 Jump$tart Survey, the Financial Literacy of Young African-Americans Adults, was prepared by Dr. Lewis Mandell, Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and State University of New York at Buffalo and is based upon a Survey sponsored by Merrill-Lynch. Jump$tart began measuring the financial literacy of you ng adults in their last year of high school in 1997. The widely reported results tell a dismal story. Few high school seniors are capable of passing a multiple choice examination which measures their ability to make informed financial choices in matters that are critical to persons of their age. To compound this problem, scores have declined significantly since the test was first administered in 1997. At the request of Operation HOPE, a separate analysis is conducted to measure the financial literacy of African-Americans who were included in the overall Jump$tart survey.
About Operation HOPE, Inc. Operation HOPE is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization. With more than 400 private sector partners, 1500 nonprofit organizations and schools, and 100 government partners in 68 major U.S. cities as well as South Africa, Operation HOPE has raised more than $400 million in its pursuit of educa ting, assisting and inspiring the next generation of global stakeholders. Through international initiatives and its three principal programs: Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (financial emergency preparedness and disaster relief), and Walk-In HOPE Centers (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles) Operation HOPE has assumed the responsibility of piloting the "silver rights" movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities.
One Million Served!
I am proud to be able to report that Operation HOPE has served more than one million people to date, and it all started with a dream after the Rodney King Riots of 1992.
One person can make a difference. You be that one person!
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant
Introducing 5 MILLION KIDS!
One child drops out of school every 26 seconds...
According to recent national studies, the high school drop-out rate amongst all young people in the U.S. is 30%. That means almost a third of our children, made up of all races and economic classes, are dropping out of high school. But most devastating of all, 50% of all African-Americans and 50% of all Latinos are dropping out of high school, and in urban, inner-city and under-served communities across America, the high school drop-out rate is as high as 75%. This is extremely troubling for the nation, and an economic death sentence for America's under-served. My friend Marguerite Kondracke, president and CEO of America's Promise and a leader in the drop-out prevention movement across America, said recently, "If we are not careful, the next group of underperforming assets will be our children." Something must be done.
At Operation HOPE, we believe that children are dropping out of high school because they don't believe that education is relevant to their future. We also believe that the best way to make education "relevant" to their future, is to show children how to do well, and even get rich, legally; and that means financial literacy, the language of money, free enterprise and capitalism, and ownership; and this begins with owning oneself (dignity, which is the real wealth).
For young people with an unfortunate public record, no matter how smart they are, many may find it difficult in the short term to pass a standard background check at a major corporation. In such instances, the viable option for them may be "entrepreneurship." We need to spark and inspire a generation of young, urban, rural and low-wealth entrepreneurship across America.
According to another mentor of mine - 5MK national co-chair and entertainment icon Quincy Jones - "It takes 20 years to change a culture." Well, over the past 20 years, we have made dumb sexy. Over the next 20 years, we must make smart sexy again.
With the possible exception of the founding of Operation HOPE itself, some 16 years ago in South Central Los Angeles immediately following the Rodney King Riots, nothing has inspired me more, or feels more vitally important and relevant today, than the "big idea" called 5 MILLION KIDS, or 5MK, in HOPE short-hand.
5MK is nothing short of a bold, national strategy to "help break the back of the high school drop-out epidemic in America," and to inspire our youth, particularly our urban youth, to re-imagine their possibilities, to take their lives back, to empower themselves with real and sustainable options in their life, and to realize their God-given potential. My personal hero and HOPE global spokesman, civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young, once told me that there could never be a (silver rights) movement without young people. Well, 5 MILLION KIDS is that movement.
The FIVE MILLION KIDS Initiative is a focused and coordinated national effort to invest in America's most precious national human capital - our youth and our families - to powerfully re-brand education and to "Make Smart Sexy" again.
5MK will be formally launched, on-the-ground, in Los Angeles and in cities across America early in 2009, but you can take a peek at 5MK highlights, and track our progress, starting today. Track our progress, share your vision, get involved, organize a 5MK solution in your community, neighborhood or street, or make a 5MK Pledge of your own design at www.5MK.org.
One person can make a difference. Be...that one person.
Onward with HOPE,
John Hope Bryant Founder, Chairman and CEO Operation HOPE
Images from Dubai, UAE
Quote of the Day
"The greatest sales model in the history of the world, is to get individuals to do that which is in their best interest."
Operation HOPE national board member Secretary Jack Kemp, as quoted from an interview for John Hope Bryant's upcoming book on love leadership
Quote of the Day
"The highest form of charity is to prevent someone from having to rely on charity."
Ancient Jewish Parable
Bryant on the World Economy: We are all in this Together
By John Hope Bryant
While traveling internationally in China back in September, 2008, some of my colleagues from around the world (meaning the comments came from Chinese and non-Chinese leaders alike), all attending the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China, began to almost rejoice in the challenges being faced by America economically of late.
The facts are the facts; some American leaders, and American citizens, have in fact been arrogant at times, selfish at times, focused on a me conversation, rather than a we discussion, we have been greedy, short term obsessed, and living dangerously beyond our means,
But the fact is also that America is a great, amazing country, where dreams continue to come true, and that it is because of the unyielding hope and optimism and creativity of the American spirit, translated and moved forward by its people, that this is so. Where else than the United States of America, still the sole superpower in the world, could a white woman, and a black man, run competitively for the highest public office in the land – and a black man win that office, soon becoming the 44th President of the United States of America? Where? I will tell you where – nowhere. That is what an American CEO recently called our "special sauce." It is what makes America great, and why I continue marvel at how we continue to create, to "re-imagine" as my friend Bill Walbrecher, would say, and how we continue to re-invent ourselves. And we will do it, once again, this time (re-imagine and re-invent ourselves I mean).
And so, my international friends were correct in calling out our deficiencies, and they need not bother citing our penchant for revitalization from within. We will handle that absent the need for a cheer leading section. In fact, it is best we undergo this process soberly, humbly and staring ourselves squarely in the mirror of today's reality.
That said, some of my friends are missing a bigger and much more important and relevant point, to them. America is a $14 trillion economy, or a third of the world economy, and the American consumer is 70% of our U.S. economy, which also means that the U.S. consumer is approximately 25% of the world economy.
In short, this means that when the consumer in the U.S. has a headache, the worker in say China get pneumonia. Since the beginning of 2008, more than 67,000 factories in China have shut down, tied to the slowing global economy and exports from China. We are all in this thing, together.
In this global, increasingly interconnected economy and world we live in, when one succeeds, we all succeed. And conversely, when one fails, we all fail.
As we move to restructure our global economy, we need to make sure that the conversation has a long-range vision, is based on a love leadership model, and that we are preparing and empowering people to participate and to become legitimate stakeholders in the system. We must make capitalism and free enterprise relevant to the poor, and finally work for the poor. We must launch and sustain a global silver rights movement.
We are all in this, together.
Onward with HOPE
Factoid
The slowdown in exports in China has contributed to the closing of 67,000 factories throughout China since the beginning of the year, according to government statistics.
New York Times
Africa's Resource Hope, and Curse
"This is Africa's resource curse: it's wealth is unearthed by the poor, controlled by the strong, then sold to a world largely oblivious of it's origins."
The New York Times
Quote of the Day
"Hope may not change your circumstances, but hope can change your attitude, which will change your outcome, which in time may change your circumstances."
My good friend and famed recording artist, Howard Hewett
Hope You Can Bank On
By Stacey Tisdale | TheRoot.com
Optimism may be the exact economic stimulus we need
Nov. 14, 2008--Yes we can! Regain our financial footing! It's the new rallying cry for black people on the short end of the sagging U.S. economy.
The election of Barack Obama has given us the audacity to hope for a brighter future. While the new administration is facing one of the most challenging economic times in this nation's history, the shift in attitudes in people of color may be just the personal stimulus package that many of us have been missing.
Theresa Kelly works at the Harlem office of Operation HOPE. The nonprofit provides financial counseling and lending services. The number of people signing up for the center's various financial counseling programs has more than tripled over the last month! In addition, Kelly says people now say things like, "I'm going to own a home one day," and "It's only going to get better for us."
Over the years, as I've researched why people make the financial choices they do, I've ended up talking to as many psychologists and sociologists as financial experts. In one form or another, the same three forces are at work in all of our financial behavior:
Early role modeling: The way we saw money handled and discussed (or not) when we were growing up.
Social messages: Social pressures to "keep up," as well as social stereotypes about gender, ethnicity and race.
How we see ourselves: "I'll never be rich." "I'll never get out of debt." "One day I'm going to make it, I don't have to save now."
The change in the ways black people see themselves and their futures as a result of the Obama presidency will add an interesting—and potentially positive—new layer of influence to these other powerful forces.
"I absolutely believe that this will allow minorities to see themselves differently," says Dr. Ted Klonz, who specializes in financial behavior and is contributing author of Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul. "Money attitudes and beliefs will change with that 'seeing.' People got their hope back. When we're not feeling so good about ourselves, it is difficult to listen. When we feel good about ourselves, we can hear. This could change everything if the right message is promoted and people are given the help they need."
Neel Kashkari, the Treasury Department's interim assistant secretary for financial stability, recently testified to members of Congress that some preventable foreclosures were occurring because homeowners were reluctant to contact their lenders. He called this the "hardest part" of the industry's efforts to help people change the terms of their loans.
If people are feeling more empowered these days, more of them will likely work up the courage to make that call and try to save themselves from foreclosure. Roper Public Affairs & Media found that 57 percent of this country's late-paying mortgage borrowers don't know their lenders even offer alternatives to help them avoid foreclosure. That's something that needs to change. And lenders need to step up to the plate and help their customers better understand their options.
I think Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut's response to Kashkari's remarks really grasp what it means to be serious about creating an educated consumer. He said, "Why can't the lender make that call? They know they have a customer, a borrower in trouble."
It is unlikely that the industry will step in and willingly take the lead. But they are feeling the pressure to act. If consumers have the courage to ask questions and advocate for our best interests, we may find that it's not so difficult to work together.
United for a Fair Economy estimates that this mortgage crisis will cost people of color $213 billion, the biggest loss of wealth in history.
Forty years ago, just before his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was about to expand his focus into something called "the poor people's campaign." The campaign was about moving poor blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Indians and whites into the economic mainstream.
Dr. King knew that the best way to achieve social justice was through economic parity. To use his words, "The developed nations of the world cannot remain secure islands of prosperity in a seething sea of poverty. The storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation and armament. The storm will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables men everywhere to live in dignity and human decency."
For many of the people Dr. King had in mind, that storm is named Barack Obama. Now we have to take the hope that we feel and translate it into empowerment, education and action in our own financial lives.
Stacey Tisdale is a veteran on-air financial journalist. She's the author of "The True Cost of Happiness: The Real Story Behind Managing Your Money."She is also a board member of nonprofit financial literacy organization, Operation HOPE.
Two schoolgirls blinded in acid attack in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two men on a motorcycle used water pistols to spray acid on girls walking to school Wednesday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, blinding at least two of them, military spokesmen said.
These girls only sin was trying to go to school to better themselves. Girls attending school is banned by the Taliban, which for me is reason enough to appose them. This is pure cowardice, and ignorance. Read the complete story here. Share with others. Tell me what you think.
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant
Civil Rights Icon Ambassador Andrew Young and Silver Rights Advocate John Hope Bryant Inspire Youth at B.E.S.T Academy in Atlanta, Georgia
Quote of the Day
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm...."
John Hope Bryant
Operation HOPE's Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline Fields 40,000 Calls, Helps Restructure $100 Million in Mortgage Loans
Mortgage Crisis Hotline is "silver rights" in action
LOS ANGELES, CA - November 11, 2008 - In an effort to save homeownership and the American dream during a time of crisis for many mortgage holders, Operation HOPE, Inc. has fielded nearly 40,000 calls for assistance and maintained an average of 4,176 active client files from 148 lenders and servicers since establishing the Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline (MHCH) in April 2007.
Individuals needing assistance can call the hotline weekdays toll-free at 888-388-HOPE (4673).
Through the Hotline, foreclosures are delayed and loan modifications are negotiated weekly. As of October 31st, the MHCH has prevented 257 foreclosures through loan modification or no action agreements and assisted an additional 145 clients, working through more than $100 million in challenged mortgages. Collaborative efforts by all segments of the financial services industry, government agencies and community organizations have provided solutions to the growing problem before it cripples the economy.
The Hotline receives calls on a regular basis and each client is assigned to a dedicated HOPE mortgage counselor, and in some cases a Virtual HOPE Corps volunteer, who works with the client until the loan is modified or another outcome has been reached, sometimes without lender cooperation.
Many homeowners face overwhelming challenges as their interest rate and monthly payments have increased. Homeowners with mortgage challenges can call the MHCH at 888-388-HOPE (4673) for free services including:
How to negotiate with your lender
How to apply for loan modifications
How to avoid foreclosure
How to sell a house and purchase an affordable home
How to restructure your existing debt and obligations
In 2006, the Operation HOPE Banking Center homeownership counselors began to see clients that expressed concerns with their ability to make mortgage payments if the interest rate increased on their adjustable rate loans. These realities prompted John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE founder and chairman, to focus on adjustable and payment option mortgages and the affect on American homeownership.
"Our goal is to maximize the preservation of homeownership while minimizing foreclosures and assist borrowers who have the willingness and wherewithal to remain in their homes and the MHCH has played a key role to accomplish just that," noted Bryant, who also serves as vice chair of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy. "Making financial services that help people help themselves is all a part of our "silver rights" mission to empower the underserved. As Americans recover from the mortgage meltdown, financial literacy is more important than ever."
Under the direction of Fred Smith, HOPE Coalition America managing director and former Deputy Treasurer of the State of California, the Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline is supported by two call centers capable of handling 5,000 calls a day. The MHCH is managed by HOPE's financial emergency planning and recovery division, HOPE Coalition America, and facilitated through its HOPE Banking Center Network.
The MHCH currently maintains a collaborative relationship with Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (an affiliate of NeighborWorks America), and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation, making it possible for homeowners to obtain invaluable information and guidance through the current housing crisis many find themselves in. Trained foreclosure prevention counselors, including HOPE employees and professionals from the mortgage industry, are helping homeowners establish a realistic monthly budget, negotiate payments consistent with their ability to pay, or help them through the home downsizing process.
The MHCH was launched originally in partnership with Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, and is now operating throughout the state of California, and when requested, with homeowners nationwide.
The MHCH is sponsored by lead partner and call center sponsor First American Corporation, with additional sponsor support provided by HSBC, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. "While all of our partners are important, and we could not do this important work without their support, without First American Corporation there would be no Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline, nor for that matter our response to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Ike." Bryant continued, "First American Corporation has literally made their call center facilities available to the HOPE family, and have consistently subsidized the cost of five full-time HOPE counselors, and their Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Frank McMahon now serves on our national board of directors. We are ho nored to be associated with First American, and thankful for the support provided by Bank of America, HSBC, Wells Fargo and others around this mortgage crisis."
About Operation HOPE, Inc. Founded in 1992, immediately following the worst urban riot in U.S. history, Operation HOPE is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization. With more than 400 private sector partners, 1500 nonprofit organizations and schools, and 100 government partners serving 68 under-served communities in the U.S. cities as well as South Africa, Operation HOPE has raised more than $400 million in its pursuit of educating, assisting and inspiring the next generation of global "silver rights" stakeholders. Through international initiatives and its principal programs: Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline, 1-888-388-HOPE, financial emergency preparedness and disaster relief), HOPE Advisors and the HOPE Banking Center Network (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles), Operation HOPE has assumed the responsibility of piloting the Silver Rights Movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all under-served communities. Civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young is the global spokesman for Operation HOPE. More information about the organization can be found at www.operationhope.org.
Quote of the Day
"I strongly believe that the work of Operation HOPE and other organizations like it are in fact continuing the work of the civil rights movement, or as John Hope Bryant would say, the "silver rights" movement. Dr. King, myself, and a whole host of others succeeded in integrating the lunch counter, and the public buildings, but we failed to ultimately integrate the dollar, and this is what HOPE is all about."
civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young, on his new website.
Quote of the Day
"What you focus on grows, and what you ignore withers and dies on the vine."
John Hope Bryant
Quote of the Day
“Courage is simply an act of faith reaching through your fear, expressing itself as action.”
John Hope Bryant
President-Elect Obama: Hope is on the Way
Early on in the Bush Presidency (second term) I attended a White House Black History Month event at the White House in Washington, D.C., where I crossed paths with an extremely focused, serious yet approachable new U.S. senator from Illinois, by the name of one Barack Obama.At that time there was no hint that he would run for president, but there was no doubt that he was extremely intelligent, thoughtful, well spoken, and no doubt “going places.” What I did not know, and could not know at the time, was that the place he was going was right upstairs (at the White House, I mean).
I remember shaking the senator’s hand, telling him briefly about my life’s work, and sharing with him my desire to better serve “his constituents” with financial literacy, silver rights and economic empowerment, HOPE style. Well, if you want to make God laugh tell Him your plan.
I thought I was talking about (serving) the great people of the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois, where HOPE has a program office.Now it looks like we will indeed be serving all of his constituents, now (or soon) meaning the great people of the United States of America.I and we will of course be honored to do it.This is meaningful on several levels, from Operation HOPE on-the-ground and in communities across America, changing lives, to the U.S. President’s Council on Financial Literacy in Washington, D.C., helping the president-elect and our Congress create policy that in turn creates real change for real people nationwide. The U.S. President’s Council on Financial Literacy is bi-partisan and is chartered by Executive Order to serve two sitting U.S. presidents, until 2010.
Hello, Mr. Obama.
Hope is on the Way
I have had a few “moments” in my life when the power of the word hope has really been made real and tangible to me; from the day I founded Operation HOPE, on May 5th, 1992, immediately following the worst civil unrest in U.S. history, the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, to the day I received a call from the White House, inquiring whether I had a problem with them using the word “hope” as part of their mortgage response and recovery efforts in this economic crisis (now known across America as “HOPE Now”). They saw "hope" as part of our brand in and for under-served communities, and paid the respect of asking, when they really didn't have to. And then there was that passionate and focused U.S. senator again, criss-crossing America, “talking up hope.”
I cannot tell you how many of my friends have emailed or called me in recent months, telling me about "this amazing man," and further suggesting that the “stars were aligning.”Yea right, was all I could think. You see, I could only think about how difficult it has been for me, working to make hope real, on-the-ground, through
Operation HOPE; 16 years on now and counting, and I am still “making the case.”
But a presidency, representing the most powerful nation in the world, and the largest economy on the planet, built on “a (business) case for hope?” Come on now. Well, we now all know the answer, and it does indeed appear that hope is on the way. Quoting another great presidential orator, “it is morning (again) in America.” Yes, it is.
This said, we now must all work to make hope real and material in the lives of people.
In his remaining time in office I am sure that President Bush will do what he can to help. I am also sure that President-Elect Obama will lead us forward, post January 20th, 2009, with a bold new plan for America, and the world.But what will you and I do?Yes, you and I.
We cannot simply turn to Mr. Obama now, dump all of our problems on his soon to be overwhelmed desk and say, “okay leader, you handle it.”America elected him, and America must help him, and that particular buck, so to speak, starts with you and me.
A friend (Bill George, author of best seller "True North") described Obama’s campaign as more of a movement, than a campaign. I agree with him. And I believe it was Rev. Al Sharpton who said “with the election of Barack Obama we have fulfilled the greatest promise of the civil rights movement, (and) now we must move forward with the next phase of the movement” (quote paraphrased).
I believe that the next chapter of movement work is a shift from civil rights to silver rights.
That does not in any way mean to suggest that we don’t need civil rights, nor key legacy organizations such as the NAACP. We surely do need it, and them.But the principle problem today, both at home and the world over, is not an issue of race and the color line, but issues of class and poverty.
With 70% of Americans living from paycheck to paycheck, and someone living in say New York City and making $50,000 a year, or Atlanta, Georgia and making $35,000 a year, struggling to make ends meet, the “issue is not so much whether you are white, black, red or yellow, but getting and keeping more green (US currency, I mean).”
“If the 20th century was about issues of race and the color line, or civil rights, then the 21st century will be about issues of class and poverty, or what I call silver rights, and the first silver right in a free enterprise democracy is financial literacy. When you don’t know better, you cannot do better.” John Hope Bryant
It is about the global economic crisis
At the heart of the current global economic crisis is a massive level of borrower and consumer financial illiteracy, or people, including middle class individuals, who asked “what’s the payment” and not “what’s the interest rate.”You cannot have a $14 trillion U.S. economy, 70% dependent upon consumers, and have consumers financially illiterate and as a result, lacking personal confidence to protect their family from financial predators and bad decisions, and somehow expect that the economic framework will not ultimately fold like a house of cards. Financial literacy is an American competitiveness issue.
Immediately after everyone’s economic houses stop burning, the very next question on everyone’s mind will be and should be, “how do we make sure a mess like this never happens again.” We should require that every young person in school receive a mandatory course in basic financial literacy before completion of the 8th grade (a recommendation included in the soon-to-be-released President’s Council on Financial Literacy report).
It is about human dignity, respect, personal responsibility, democracy in America, and basic access for all
More individuals today do not have a bank account than didn’t have the right to vote in the civil rights movement (40 million). Certainly, just like in the civil rights movement, when a woman standing on a street corner in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina could noteven receive a federal payment from FEMA, because she did not have a basic bank account to wire it into, that was an issue of respect and dignity, and basic access to the levers of democracy and opportunity.
If our banking system is going to receive federal financial support (which I support, by the way), then respectfully, they should also have to do more. Guaranteeing a basic, electronic, debit card accessed, FDIC bank account as a legal human right for every American, and helping to make America financially literate too, is an easy lift, and we should do it.This recommendation will also be included in the annual report for the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, and HOPE spokesman, civil rights hero Andrew Young and I have jointly written to Congress calling for a “bank account for all.”
At Operation HOPE we believe that it is time for a global silver rights movement, starting right here at home, and we believe that the first silver right is financial literacy.
When you have a future president focused on and committed to the principles of "hope, dignity and empowerment," hope is indeed on the way. Operation HOPE will do our part to help him operationalize this dream.
With HOPE,
John Hope Bryant
Quote of the Day
"The current global economic crisis simply underscores how dependent the global economy is on the relative health and financial confidence of the consumer. It points to a now undeniable need for financial literacy ed ucation, financial literacy empowerment, and a much broader global silver rights movement at almost every level of society around the globe. We are all interconnected." Bryant continued, "when the consumer in North America gets a headache, someone is going to get financial pneumonia in Asia, Latin America, Africa or somewhere else in the world. We are connected. There are few better places to frame global solutions for the future than the World Economic Forum. I am honored to serve on the Global Agenda Council."
Quote of the Day
"The silver rights movement requires credibility from the streets all the way to the corporate suites."
John Hope Bryant
Founder, Operation HOPE
President's Council on Financial Literacy will hold listening forum in Des Moines Nov. 11
AMES, Iowa -- Members of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy will host "Financial Literacy in the Heartland" -- a special listening forum with invited statewide leaders in financial literacy -- on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.
The 16-member President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy was created in January by President George W. Bush with the purpose of assisting Americans in understanding and addressing financial matters. The President and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson have asked the Advisory Council to work with public and private sectors to help increase financial education efforts for all Americans. In response to that charge, members of the council are hosting "listening sessions" with financial literacy leaders throughout the country.
Sponsored jointly by the Iowa State University College of Business and College of Human Sciences, the Greater Iowa Credit Union and the Iowa Credit Union League, the Iowa listening session is being convened by Tahira Hira, ISU professor of personal finance and consumer economics, who serves on President Bush's Advisory Council.
"The information gleaned from these meetings may be applied toward the Advisory Council's recommendations to the U.S. Treasury Department and ultimately to the President," Hira said.
Dan Iannicola Jr., the U.S. Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for financial education and the executive director of the Advisory Council, will moderate the session. He will also interact with local reporters during a 30-minute media briefing with members of the Advisory Council beginning at 9:15 a.m.
"We are in extraordinary economic times," Iannicola said. "While financial education has long been seen as important, more people are now beginning to see that it is also urgent. With the concerns and questions many consumer have about rapidly changing events, we find ourselves in a national teachable moment for personal finance."
"The President's Council, through sessions like this, is fulfilling its important mission of gathering insights from people across the country to better inform their recommendations to President Bush and Secretary Paulson," he said.
President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy members scheduled to attend the event include:
John Bryant, Vice Chairman, and Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Operation HOPE, America's first non-profit social investment banking organization, which has raised $400 million from the private sector to empower the poor.
Ted Beck, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Endowment for Financial Education.
Tahira Hira, Iowa State University, who has taught and conducted research in family financial management, consumer credit, gambling and consumer bankruptcy. She was a presenter and one of four facilitators at the Financial Education and Financial Literacy Research Symposium, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in October.
Sharon Lechter, Lechter Development Group, who is co-author of the best-selling book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and the Rich Dad series of books. She is one of the founders of the Rich Dad companies, and inventor of the "CASHFLOW for Kids" board game.
Janet Parker, Chairman, Society of Human Resource Management and Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., one of the top 10 banks in the nation with nearly $140 billion in assets.
Bryant and Carrie Schwab Pomerantz -- the daughter of Charles Schwab, chair of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy -- will be the event's keynote speakers. Pomerantz is Chief Strategist, Consumer Education, at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., and President of the Charles Schwab Foundation. She also will also participate in the media briefing.
Financial literacy advocates participating in the listening session include Shazia Manus, President/CEO, Greater Iowa Credit Union; Cara Heiden, Co-President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in West Des Moines; and Kevin Shields, FDIC Community Affairs Specialist. Financial literacy leaders from such organizations as the Iowa Credit Union League, Jump Start, the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Society of Human Resource Management will also participate. The listening session will feature five-minute constituent testimonials followed by 15-minute discussions with Advisory Council members.
Invited leaders from Des Moines' financial industry will also meet with Advisory Council members during a private breakfast meeting at the hotel prior to the media briefing.
Operation HOPE Founder John Hope Bryant Selected by the World Economic Forum as Financial Literacy Expert for New Global Agenda Council
Silver Rights entrepreneur travels as guest of Dubai Government this week to the United Arab Emirates for
week-long talks with 1,000 leading global experts on agenda for the 21st century
Los Angeles – November xx, 2008 – John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman and chief executive officer for Operation HOPE, vice chairman of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and chairman of its Committee on the Under-Served, traveled to Dubai this week to help shape the global agenda as a member of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) new Council focused on financial empowerment. Bryant's is also a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum and co-founder of Global Dignity, also associated with the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
"The current global economic crisis simply underscores how dependent the global economy is on the relative health and financial confidence of the consumer. It points to a now undeniable need for financial literacy education, financial literacy empowerment, and a much broader global silver rights movement at almost every level of society around the globe. We are all interconnected." Bryant continued, "when the consumer in North America gets a headache, someone is going to get financial pneumonia in Asia, Latin America, Africa or somewhere else in the world. We are connected. There are few better places to frame global solutions for the future than the World Economic Forum. I am honored to serve on the Global Agenda Council." Bryant has been working to empower unserved communities for the last 17 years.
Bryant's international efforts are supported through his Los Angeles-based nonprofit's international arm, HOPE Global Initiatives. The role of HGI is to promote and advocate the benefits of "silver rights" the organization's movement to promote education, financial literacy, self-reliance, economic empowerment, and dignity as tools for improving the quality of life in developing countries.
Hosted by the World Economic Forum in partnership with the Government of Dubai, the World Economic Forum Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda will convene on November 7 – 9, 2008. The event brings together the world's best minds to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing humanity.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas and the parent organization of the YGL. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is not tied to any political, partisan or national interests.
The Forum of Young Global Leaders The Forum of Young Global Leaders is an independent, Geneva, Switzerland-based foundation whose mission is to build a unique, multi-stakeholder community of the world's most extraordinary leaders under the age of 40 and give them a platform to collaborate and shape best practices for the future of the world. Each year, we identify and mobilize a new group of 200 exceptional men and women in business, politics, academia, the media and civil society from every region in the world. Together, they form a powerful international force for the global common good. For more information about the Young Global Leaders, please visit the website at http://www.younggloballeaders.org.
About Operation HOPE
Operation HOPE is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization. With more than 400 private sector partners, 1500 nonprofit organizations and schools, and 100 government partners serving 68 under-served communities in the U.S. cities as well as South Africa, Operation HOPE has raised more than $400 million in its pursuit of educating, assisting and inspiring the next generation of global "silver rights" stakeholders. Through international initiatives and its principal programs: Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline, 1-888-388-HOPE, financial emergency preparedness and disaster relief), HOPE Advisors and the HOPE Banking Center Network (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles), Operation HOPE has assumed the responsibility of piloting the Silver Rights Movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities. Civil rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young is the global spokesman for Operation HOPE. More information about the organization can be found at www.operationhope.org.
John Hope Bryant in Dubai, UAE
I am honored to be here in Dubai, as the guest of the Dubai Government, and part of the new Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum, focused on Financial Empowerment, and specificially Financial Literacy. More details to follow, as the agenda is extremely rubust during our time here.
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant
Dubai, From My Room
Breathtakingly beautiful, this place. And the people; the people here just could not be more gracious, professional and kind.
Just arrive, so much more later. Dubai is 12 hours ahead of California, PST.
Onward with HOPE
Images Upon Arrival in Dubai, UAE
GLOBAL DIGNITY DAY 2008 IN REVIEW
Check out all the stories, from all around the world, in the Global Dignity Blog here.
Check it out. Pass it on. Spark a movement....
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant
Introducing Global Dignity Day, Kenya, 2008
Young Carlos Inspires Us All with GLOBAL DIGNITY DAY 2008
All I can say, is wow....
Check out this 12 year old young man from South Central Los Angeles, who is already on the road to success in his life. Rich in self esteem, self confidence, and dignity too.
Onward with HOPE
John Hope Bryant
Check out all the stories, from all around the world, in the Global Dignity Blog 
