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This week I want to give flowers to someone whose shoulders a lot of us in this space stand on... John Hope Bryant
If you work anywhere near financial literacy, you know the name. He was 9 years old in South Central LA when a banker walked into his classroom and taught a lesson on money that changed his life. He turned that moment into Operation HOPE, the largest financial empowerment nonprofit in the country. More than 4 million people served. Over $4 billion in capital directed into underserved communities. And he's still going, from meeting with the Fed Chair during Financial Literacy Month to pushing his Financial Literacy for All initiative to make this a national priority.
What I respect most is that he's been saying the same thing for decades, long before it was popular. Financial literacy is the civil rights issue of this generation. That belief is the foundation everything we do at Kredit Academy is built on, whether we knew it at the time or not.
Getting to spend time with him was one of those moments where you shake the hand of someone who cleared the path you're walking on.
And I'll say this. The counseling work Operation HOPE does is powerful. Where we hope, pun fully intended, to add value is in what happens between those sessions. Our software keeps people learning and engaged in the gaps, so the momentum from a great coaching conversation doesn't fade before the next one. That's a conversation we'd love to continue.
Thank you for the decades of work, John. The path is wider because of you. And thank you to the legendary Derrick A. Parson for the opportunity. Been a pleasure to see your continued star power rise.