ATLANTA (MAY 28, 2024) – Operation HOPE, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping low and moderate-income Americans thrive in an ever-changing economy, today announced that renowned technology executive Sarah Friar has joined its Governing Board of Directors (Board). An accomplished business leader, Ms. Friar previously served on the Operation HOPE Global Board of Advisors and brings a diverse range of expertise to the Board, particularly in the areas of finance, technology, and social impact. Her nomination to the Board was unanimously received.
Most recently, Sarah Friar was chief executive officer of Nextdoor, the neighborhood network that connects neighborhood stakeholders, including neighbors, businesses, and public services, online and in real life to build stronger, more vibrant, and resilient neighborhoods. She helped take the company public in 2021 on the NYSE. During Sarah’s five year tenure, Nextdoor nearly tripled to more than 88M Verified Neighbors, reaching over 330,000 neighborhoods around the world.
The Operation HOPE Governing Board of Directors provides guidance and support for Operation HOPE in its commitment to provide financial literacy education and economic empowerment for individuals and small business owners living in under-served communities.
Sarah Friar’s dedication to social responsibility aligns closely with the mission of Operation HOPE to empower individuals and communities through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity,” said Operation HOPE Chairman, Founder, and CEO John Hope Bryant. “Her proven track record of leveraging technology and business acumen to create positive social change makes her an invaluable addition to our board.”
Ms. Friar joins a distinguished Governing Board that consists of some of the country’s top executives in business, banking and the non-profit and NGO sector. She brings a point of view to the Board that includes a wealth of management and high-tech experience and a shared and demonstrated commitment to the mission and values of Operation HOPE.
Ms. Friar grew up in Northern Ireland and earned her MEng in Metallurgy, Economics, and Management from the University of Oxford and her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where she graduated as an Arjay Miller scholar. She holds an honorary doctorate from Ulster University and in 2019 was granted an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship.
About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to “Silver Rights” with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its award-winning community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed nearly $4 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Operation HOPE recently received Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award for driving entrepreneurship as well as its eighth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability from the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. This year, HOPE also launched The 1865 Project, an initiative designed to help level the economic playing field for underserved Americans. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Join the conversation on social media at @operationHOPE.
Contact:
Lalohni Campbell, Per/Se Media Group