Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant Receives Multiple Awards for Leadership and Economic Empowerment

Operation HOPE, Inc., the nation’s leading non-profit dedicated to financial literacy, today announced entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist John Hope Bryant has received several awards recognizing his leadership and commitment to economic empowerment for underserved communities. Bryant is the founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, which has served over four million people in the US and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities since its inception in 1992.

Bryant’s recent honors include:

• 100 Black Men of America Chairman’s Award for Economic Empowerment – During its 36th Annual Leadership Conference in Hollywood, Florida, Chairman Thomas Dortch, Jr. honored Bryant for his commitment to fighting social justice through an economic lens. The annual event connects America’s youth and the surrounding community with leading entrepreneurs, government officials, educators, clergy, business executives, nonprofit executives, and entertainers.
• Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans – The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 2022 Power 100 named Bryant one of the city’s most influential voices, whose work inspires greater diversity and inclusion. The annual list features leaders impacting Atlanta’s business community and the broader economy in a different way, including efforts to overcome economic inequality.
• 2022 Empower Role Model – Bryant was listed #2 among 100 global leaders on the 2022 Empower Ethnic Minority Executives ranking. Supported by INvolve and Yahoo Finance, the organization recognized Bryant as an inspirational leader who is removing barriers to business success for diverse employees.

“My ultimate calling, in both my personal and professional endeavors, is to lead by example. I’m grateful to each of these organizations for acknowledging the work of Operation HOPE as well as my commitment to uplifting all communities,” said John Hope Bryant, founder, chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE. “We’re now in what I call ‘The Third Reconstruction,’ which is about moving from the streets to business suites and building the next generation of sustainable wealth. I will continue to encourage other leaders – especially in the private sector – to embrace embedding financial literacy into the fabric of American society.”

Bryant is also the founder, chairman, and CEO of Bryant Group Ventures, and founder and principal of The Promise Homes Company, which is the largest minority-controlled owner of single-family rental homes in the United States. Additionally, he has served as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.  At the recommendation of Mr. Bryant, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew renamed the former U.S. Treasury Annex Building the Freedman’s Bank Building.

With 200 HOPE Inside locations across the country, Operation HOPE’s team of financial wellness coaches supports individuals and families through strategic programming and partnerships such as Financial Literacy for All (FL4A) and One Million Black Businesses (1MBB), which seeks to create and support one million Black entrepreneurs by the year 2030.

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 community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 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. Project 5117 is its multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its eighth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator.

For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.