One of the most important developments in the final week leading up to the Operation HOPE inspired and sponsored, HOPE Global Financial Literacy Summit which occurred on June 17th, 2009, was the confirmation of Presidential aide and friend to community and the under-served Ms. Valerie Jarrett, as our closing keynote speaker at 4:45pm. I had first come into contact with Ms. Jarrett in Jordan, where we both attended the World Economic Forum regional meeting on the Middle East, and where she was speaking before the Forum of Young Global Leaders, for which I am a proud member. It was there, in Jordan, that I learned that Ms. Jarrett was no ordinary anything; she was born in Iran (yes, Iran), and evolved as a leader and advocate in her own right in Chicago, where she was widely respected. I also learned that she was very, very sharp. President Barack Obama is well served by Ms. Jarrett, and I am honored to call her a new friend to HOPE, to financial literacy and silver rights, and to under-served communities and struggling families everywhere. In her closing remarks, which I encourage you to watch for yourself and to share with friends, M. Jarrett talks about what Operation HOPE calls “the language of money,” and how critical financial literacy is to the ongoing health of our nation, and the world. She also spoke about the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, where I serve as vice chair and chairman of the Council Committee on the Under-Served, and most of all about the historic changes to the broader financial and regulatory system that the President had called for earlier that same day, and which Operation HOPE Live Webcast directly into summit delegates during our lunch session. One person can make a difference, and Valerie Jarrett is one of those people. Honored to know her, and to know that she is serving the President during these truly historic and vitally important times. With HOPE, John Hope Bryant

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