John Hope Bryant will announce range of activities during his appearance on
Steve Harvey Show on April 18
April 13, 2011 — Los Angeles — Financial literacy empowerment nonprofit Operation HOPE (HOPE) leads the national conversation on the importance of financial literacy while mobilizing communities throughout the country with more than 140 planned economic empowerment activities for the entire month of April – National Financial Literacy Month.
Bestselling business author and Founder, Chairman and CEO of HOPE John Bryant will discuss the nonprofit's slate of activities and highlight his book LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World during his appearance on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, one of the country's most popular syndicated radio programs. Viewers will be able to catch the program's taped version for television on Centric, which airs The Project weekdays at 9pm/EST.
“For 19 years now we have focused on bridging the economic gap in underserved communities by teaching people the ‘language of money’ through economic empowerment programs and services,” noted Bryant who also serves the Obama Administration on the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability. “HOPE aspires to uplift individuals and families by giving them not only a practical set of financial literacy tools but by providing them a sense of empowerment.”
Through Bryant's leadership, HOPE is utilizing National Financial Literacy Month as a platform to lauch a series of programs and activities that will shine the spotlight on its "silver rights" initiatives. HOPE activities that will be held throughout the month of April will include but not be limited to:
- April 1-30 “To Catch A Dollar” documentary screenings - This ground-breaking film is an inspiring, logic-defying, yet true story of one man’s idea, a strange kind of bank – the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, and the millions of lives it changed. The man that inspired the film, Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, also known as the father of micro-credit, transformed both the men and women of Bangladesh during his personal quest to help the working poor of invest in themselves.
Screenings will be held in select cities throughout the month and several HOPE-sponsored screenings are being organized across the country including one on April 18 from 5:30pm – 8:30pm at the Ebenezer Church in Atlanta. More information can be found on “To Catch A Dollar” Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142425169156950.
- April 1, National 5MK Pledge Campaign Launch – The purpose of the FIVE MILLION KIDS (5MK) Pledge Campaign is to advance the cause of financial literacy and economic empowerment. At the helm is the powerful collaborative team of Bryant along with Co-Chairs Quincy Jones and Former UN Ambassador Andrew Young. The 5MK movement will involve partners that will highlight the power of financial literacy in an effort to spark positive change for individuals, families and communities. The 5MK pledge of action will create a platform for a new, dynamic, highly charged conversation around financial literacy in America.
- April 14 – Gallup-Operation HOPE Financial Literacy Index - A joint collaboration between the two organizations. This first-of-its-kind index will release data measuring a youth’s relationship to financial literacy and how they envision their future while providing them with targeted, impactful training so that they ultimately achieve their aspired financial goals.
- April 15 – 2011 Financial Literacy Day on Capitol Hill - The Jump$tart Coalition, Junior Achievement, and the Council for Economic Education in conjunction with U.S. Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), co-founders of the House Literacy Caucus, along with U. S. Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Michael Enzi (R-WY) will convene on Capitol Hill for a series of public addresses and special events. In addition to speakers, the day’s activities will feature an open-house exhibit of financial education products and programs. Members of Congress will lend their voice in support of higher education financial literacy legislation as well as the Joint Framework of Literacy Agreement between HOPE and the Financial Services Roundtable – an agreement which promotes active involvement in the community from the largest financial services companies.
- April 16 – A World Bank’s Civil Society Policy Forum – HOPE’s Global Money Initiative hosted by World Bank on Capitol Hill. Bryant will discuss the goal of HOPE’s Global Money Initiative which is to provide other countries with the opportunity to have culturally relevant financial literacy programming in over 50 languages throughout the world via Wikia. Other panelists such as Sue Rutledge coordinator, World Bank Institute Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy; Sean Cleary CEO Strategic Concepts; and Thierry Tanoh vice president Sub-Saharan Africa International Finance Corporation will join in the discussion.
- April 25, HOPE Express Press Conference at Ebenezer Baptist Church – HOPE Express will help familiarize Atlanta residents with the HOPE Center and provide a limited number of financial services for Atlanta residents while the HOPE Center is still under construction (HOPE Center is scheduled to open in early 2012 at Ebenezer Baptist Church). HOPE Express will also serve as a coordination center for volunteers. The press conference will also be an opportunity to highlight HOPE Ebenezer "Phase I" results to date. HOPE Center Ebenezer founding partners include FINANCIAL SERVICES ROUNDTABLE, SunTrust Bank, State Farm Insurance, LPL Financial, Wells Fargo, MasterCard, Coca-Cola and the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
- April 2011 – HOPE Website Launch - HOPE will re-launch a user-friendly, newly designed, interactive website with links to all of its programs as well as the existing ones. Visitors will be able to log-on and get key information on financial issues such as mortgage lending, banking, financial and estate planning as well as wealth generating techniques and advice. Additionally, the website will feature endorsements and testimonials from some of the nation’s top community, political and business leaders including John Bryant;Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement and Deputy Associate Director of Inter-Governmental Relations Michael Blake; HOPE Global Spokesperson Ambassador Andrew Young; Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed; and many others.
Other HOPE activities held in conjunction with National Financial Literacy Month include Banking on Our Future youth financial literacy education classes in 15 cities, special entepreneurial training programs, credit rebuilding seminars and first time homeowner classes scheduled at HOPE Financial Literacy Empowerment Centers across the country.
In addition, Bryant will deliver the keynote address at the Federal Reserve Bank’s Leadership Summit in Kansas
City, MO on April 22, and a HOPE Forum at the New York Stock Exchange on July 21 & 22.
HOPE Forums are a series of regional and national financial literacy empowerment conferences hosted by HOPE designed to frame the issue of financial literacy as an essential economic tool and as a necessity for economic recovery and sustainability.
While HOPE has elevated its activities during National Financial Literacy Month, the aforementioned programs represent only a snapshot of the global and domestic financial literacy initiatives that will be executed over the next month and in the year to come. For more information on all activities happening within the Operation HOPE family during Financial Literacy Month go to www.operationhope.org.
###
About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Founded in 1992, the mission of social economic empowerment nonprofit Operation HOPE (HOPE) is to expand economic opportunity in under-resourced communities through financial literacy education. HOPE promotes "silver rights" – making free enterprise and capitalism relevant and effective for the underserved. Serving more than 1.5 million people, raising more than $500 million and directing, funding and restructuring nearly $500 million more in mortgages and economic support from the private sector, for a total of approximately $1 billion dollars in economic activity, HOPE seeks dignity and empowerment for all. Follow Operation HOPE at www.operationhope.org,www.twitter.com/operationhope, and www.facebook.com/operationhope.