Operation HOPE, Inc.

Operation HOPE, Inc

Formation	May 5, 1992
Legal status	Non-profit
Purpose	Financial literacy
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Region served	United States, South Africa
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	John Hope Bryant
Website	https://www.operationhope.org

Operation HOPE, Inc. is a non-profit organization providing financial literacy empowerment and economic education to youth and adults. The mission and programs carried out by Operation HOPE, Inc. (HOPE) focuses on silver rights empowerment and seeks to make free enterprise work for everyone.

History

Operation HOPE, Inc. was founded by John Hope Bryant on May 5, 1992, immediately following the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, California. During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Sr, co-pastored Ebenezer Baptist Church with his son Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and served on the board of a bank for 40-years. Operation HOPE, Inc. seeks to teach others about financial literacy and fiscal responsibility just as Martin Luther King, Sr sought to instill these ideals in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Operation HOPE, Inc. maintains the mission of both Martin Luther King, Sr and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr to make free enterprise work for all by focusing on poverty eradication and economic justice.

Programs

Operation HOPE, Inc. has served more than 2 million individuals through a number of local and international divisions, programs, and initiatives. Since 1992, Operation HOPE, Inc. has also directed more than $1.5 billion in private capital to America's low-wealth communities, maintains a growing number of over 20,000 HOPE Corps volunteers internationally, and currently serves more than 300 U.S. cities, as well as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

Banking On Our Future

Banking On Our Future (BOOF) is an international program targeted to help low-income and underserved communities by educating youth about financial literacy. Banking on Our Future Program has reached out to help over 746,000 students in more than 700 schools and community-based organizations in the U.S. and South Africa.^[1]

Banking on Our Future organizes free classes at schools and local organizations for adolescents and young adults. Program coordinators model the teaching curriculum based on the student's age group. The program sessions are led by trained HOPE Corps volunteers who have learned and/or demonstrated strong financial literacy skills.

The Banking On Our Future Program also partners with the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund in South Africa. On an international level, Operation HOPE, Inc. and the Banking On Our Future program seeks to educate students about smart financial choices and give them hope to better their current financial situations. This program has also been the recipient of the U.S. Treasury Department's John Sherman Award for Financial Literacy Excellence and also received the Oprah's Angel Network’s Use Your Life Award.

HOPE Financial Dignity Centers

HOPE Financial Dignity Centers are walk-in locations which provide financial literacy information and counseling to low-income individuals who could benefit from their services.

At HOPE Centers, trained finance professionals provide financial literacy classes for those seeking financial advice and also and one-on-one counseling sessions on the topics of mortgages, avoiding/handling foreclosures, small business, credit, and loans. The goal of the HOPE Centers are to help clients secure loans from local banks and create incentives for banks to become stakeholders in low-wealth communities.

HOPE Centers have established partnerships across public, private and community sectors. These partnerships include banks, credit unions, and community- and faith-based organizations. The HOPE Centers also has the support of government agencies including the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Small Business Administration (SBA) and Economic Development Administration (EDA). Operation HOPE, Inc. is also recognized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as an approved housing and foreclosure prevention counseling agency.^[2]

HOPE Coalition America

HOPE Coalition America provides free and economic counseling to businesses and families to help them prepare for and recover from major disasters or emergencies. Created after the September 11th attack on America HCA serves as a resource network of banking, financial services, legal, insurance, higher education, social service, and community development professionals committed to providing practical information and tools for disaster planning and to helping those affected by disaster rebuild their financial life. One such tool is the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) (PDF), which helps users identify and organize key financial records to minimize the financial impact of a natural disaster or national emergency. ^[3]

HOPE Forums

Operation HOPE, Inc. organizes local and international forums in which leaders from private, corporate, community, and academic sectors to help America and the world discover and discuss problems and solutions to economic challenges. Individuals share their views and organize solutions in working groups and encourage each other to take action to eradicate global issues.

At the annual HOPE Financial Dignity Summit, keynote speakers set the tone of the global summits as other session leaders direct town hall sessions that encourage strategic thinking. In addition, the global summit includes plenary sessions which incorporate attendees as they participate in planning steps to combat pressing economic problems.^[4]

Project 5117

As supported by a national alliance with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and with the ongoing support of the American Bankers Association and Protective Life, Project 5117’s mission is to strengthen the economy by focusing on empowering those who earn less than $50,000 a year. Led by co-chairs Dr. Bernice King, Ambassador Andrew Young and John Hope Bryant, Project 5117 is supported by a broad range of services, from homeownership counseling, to credit card debt management, a program that helps those with low credit scores raise their score to 700, and the comprehensive entrepreneurship-training course HOPE Business In A Box Academies.

Project 5117 stands for:

5 million youth empowered with a new level of financial literacy through unique financial dignity education programs, that have successfully been taught in 3,500 schools across the country. The program ensures basic consumer protection education for a generation, while making smart cool, so they stay in school.

1 million of these empowered youth will have an opportunity to become future entrepreneurs and local job creators through HOPE Business In A Box Academies, supported by a 100-year partnership with the Gallup Organization. This effort powerfully reconnects education with aspiration in the lives of our youth. By the year 2020 there will be 2,000 HOPE Business In A Box Academies across the United States, in both urban and rural communities. 2013 Pilot Results

1,000 first-ever bottom-up empowerment centers, branch banks with HOPE Inside units spread through out America and 5,000 certified locations containing “HOPE Inside Plus” units. This plan is consistent with the long-term growth strategies of top regional and money-center banks, and appreciates the under-utilized, 100,000 unit branch banking network across America.

700 Credit Score Communities will be attained through the expansion of HOPE Inside and “HOPE Inside Plus” locations. These communities will have access to credit counseling, education on credit and money management, and debt management, offered in an individual or group setting.

With the launch of this next phase of Operation HOPE’s work, which operates at the level of national scale, and measurable local impact -- community-by-community and across the country -- we are now injecting into society a pragmatic and tangible plan of action, which everyone can play a meaningful role in. It is our way of answering some of the questions posed by Dr. King in the Poor People’s Campaign, in both word and deed. ^[5]

HOPE Inside

HOPE Inside is a viable and sustainable business model for future HOPE Centers nationwide. This innovative and cost-efficient strategy will allow HOPE to serve more people in more places by bringing financial empowerment and financial dignity to locations they already frequent, such as their bank or grocery store. By partnering with financial institutions, retail stores, supermarkets, local municipalities, community-based organizations and shopping centers, HOPE Inside will attract more customers and members who want to take care of their shopping, banking or other service needs and meet with HOPE counselors for their personal financial needs, all in one location.

During this pilot period from 2004 - 2012, HOPE has successfully operated six HOPE Inside models with partners Bank of the West (Oakland, CA), Union Bank (two locations in Los Angeles, CA), US Bank (Los Angeles, CA), the City of Miami, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Site (Atlanta, GA), providing financial empowerment to over 135,000 customers.

To achieve the goal of increasing credit scores to the bankable level of 700, our strategy envisions the deployment of more than 1,000 first ever bottom-up branches (empowerment centers) throughout America. ^[6]

HOPE Business In A Box Academies

What if we could reconnect the power of aspiration with the power of education in our children's lives? What if students in grades 4-12 could start a business for $50 to $500? What if they could get courses in financial literacy and financial dignity linked with a primer course in entrepreneurship?

Introducing HOPE Business In A Box Academy (HBIABA):

Students participate in the Gallup-HOPE Index each Fall to measure their level of hope, well-being, engagement, financial literacy, and economic energy
Students then are empowered through a financial literacy and entrepreneurship program
Students can choose from more than 25 businesses that can be started for $500 or less,
Pitch their startup in front of a live audience and top leaders from their community
Work with a business mentor for 10 weeks
Present their business plan to HOPE and receive a HOPE Business In A Box Academy Entrepreneurship Grant up to $500

The Gallup-HOPE Index, a donation to America’s schools from Gallup and Operation HOPE, measures Hope Business In A Box Academies from the point of when child signs up and continues to follow their ventures from the front-end, middle and the back-end. HOPE Business In A Box will change everything. ^[7]