Joined by distinguished international panelists from The World Bank, International Finance Corporation and HOPE Global Advisory Board, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant discusses vision for international financial literacy
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Washington, D.C. – April 16, 2011 - Global financial literacy nonprofit Operation HOPE (HOPE) introduced their newest initiative Global Money at the 2011 World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings held from April 15 to 17 in Washington, D.C.
Led by HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant and author of business bestseller LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World, the session involved a distinguished panel of international business and nonprofit leaders including Coordinator of the World Bank Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy Sue Rutledge; Vice President Sub-Saharan Africa at the International Finance Corporation Thierry Tanoh; and Chairman of Strategic Concepts (Pty) Ltd. Sean Cleary. The session received support from Ambassador Edith Grace Ssempala Senior Advisor, External Affairs, World Bank Global Civil Society Team, among others.
"The financial crisis we are experiencing now is global. We need to do a better job at not only providing underserved communities with opportunities, but we also need to teach them the rules of the game," said Bryant, who currently serves the Obama Administration on the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability. "All people want to be treated with dignity and have the chance to prosper. Global Money is the first step in the Silver Rights Movement providing all world citizens with the practical financial literacy and empowerment tools that can help them build a solid foundation for their future."
Global Money, based on HOPE's award-winning financial literacy curriculum Banking on Our Future was launched to the public-at-large at a press conference on March 3, 2011, along with first Country Partner Morocco and the Casablanca Stock Exchange. The program is now available at www.globalmoney.wikia.com in Arabic, French, Spanish and English. Free to all and made available online and on a non-commercial basis through a "commons" license, Global Money expects to be made available in the next 18 months in the world's top 50 languages.
HOPE is in the midst of celebrating National Financial Literacy Month with over 140 events taking place. Highlights include: the unveiling of the Gallup-Operation HOPE Financial Literacy Index from the NYSE Euronext in New York City with partner Gallup, Inc.; a press conference surrounding a new HOPE Express office at Ebenezer Baptist Church; and the signing of a renewal agreement between HOPE and FEMA held in Washington, D.C., outlining financial recovery and disaster preparedness.
Currently, the World Bank is working on financial education through its World Bank Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy. This Global Money Forum will compliment the civil society voice around the global financial literacy campaign, in particular in Africa, South America and North America.
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About Global Money Initiative
A collaborative partnership bringing together programming from the international economic empowerment nonprofit and utilizing Wikia's online collaborative publishing platform, Global Money allows Country Partners to translate and adapt HOPE's English language financial literacy curriculum. By engaging Country Partners throughout the world, Global Money tasks them with the responsibility of translating and contextualizing the English version of the Banking on Our Future curriculum into their country's local language, while infusing local culture and financial systems into the documents. These documents would then be uploaded and shared online at the Global Money Wikia site to the community at large. This allows community leaders (whether it be a parent, teacher, or advocate) to print and use these documents to teach and empower youth and adults with localized and relevant lessons about money.
About Operation HOPE, Inc. ╨
Founded in 1992, social empowerment nonprofit Operation HOPE's mission 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. Raising more than $500 million and directing 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.