For 12 Years the Bank has supported HOPE’s “Silver Rights” initiatives
LOS ANGELES—May 14, 2007—Longtime Operation HOPE partner Wells Fargo today acknowledged the good work of nonprofit financial literacy leader Operation HOPE, gifting the organization with a $100,000 commitment, to recognize its 15 year anniversary and Bankers Bus Tour event. The funds will be used to support its youth empowerment program, Banking on Our Future.
“We salute Wells Fargo for 12 years of faith and support in Operation HOPE and our mission to empower people in underserved communities" said John Hope Bryant, HOPE founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. "Through their commitment to ‘silver rights’ Wells Fargo is providing opportunity and dignity where it is needed most.”
As one of the top 40 private employers in the country, Wells Fargo takes its reputation and social responsibility seriously. “At Wells Fargo, our company’s guiding principles calls for us to celebrate diversity, have respect for all peoples, and invest in the communities in which we do business,” said Shelley Freeman, Wells Fargo regional president for the Los Angeles Metro Community Bank. “We are proud to be a longtime supporter of Operation HOPE, and welcome the opportunity to support its Banking on Our Future program. We hope our commitment helps to make a measurable impact in educating youth about financial literacy.” Headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo is a diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance for more than 23 million customers through 6,000 stores, the internet and other distribution channels across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo has $486 billion in assets and 165,000 team members serving in more than 80 different lines of business.
Early support for Operation HOPE began with Wells Fargo’s first contribution to HOPE’S Banking on Our Future program, a winner of the prestigious Oprah Angel Network Award and the U.S. Treasury Department’s John Sherman Award for financial literacy excellence. Support is also bolstered by the recent appointment of Wells Fargo Regional Manager, Tom Swanson, to HOPE’s Southwest Regional Board.
Since 1996, Banking on Our Future volunteers have educated nearly 215,000 students nationwide on how to manage money and make investments. Banking on Our Future provides an on the ground and online program that offers four core modules on financial literacy education to students ages 9 – 18.
The Bankers Bus Tour event on April 23rd celebrated HOPE’s 15 years as America’s first nonprofit social investment bank. Last year it initiated a “Silver Rights Movement” to promote dignity and empowerment to augment its financial literacy programming. HOPE is looking to private and public partners to help educate 5 million youth in financial literacy education by 2012 through recruitment, grassroots involvement, and partnerships involving key federal government agencies, non-profit organizations, private-sector banks, financial services companies and corporations with a commitment to empowering underserved communities.
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About Operation HOPE, Inc
Operation HOPE, Inc. is a non-profit organization, which was founded in 1992 to empower minorities in underserved US communities by connecting them to mainstream, private-sector economic resources made available through ongoing collaborations and long-term partnerships with leading government, private sector, and community interests. HOPE and its programs can be found online at