Mission

To expand economic opportunity in underserved communities through economic education and empowerment. Operation HOPE (HOPE) improves the economic quality of life for individuals, families and communities through programs that create stakeholders: converting check cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, and minimum wage workers into living wage workers.

HOPE’s ultimate mission is to eradicate poverty by focusing on the 21st century’s next civil right, what HOPE calls “silver rights.” The Silver Rights Movement recognizes Ambassador Andrew Young’s belief that “living in a capitalistic society with no access to capital is a sophisticated form of slavery.” The Silver Rights Movement works to give underserved and low-income Americans a chance to become active participants in our free-market economy.

HOPE's Story

On April 29, 1992, after a jury acquitted four white Los Angeles police officers who had been videotaped beating black motorist Rodney King, the city exploded into riots. Six days later, over $1 billion in property damage had occurred—mostly in underserved neighborhoods.

The riots were a protest not just against racial discrimination and police violence, but against a system that protects the privileged and keeps the poor in their place. Operation HOPE was founded to break down that barrier between privileged and poor.

Today, HOPE is America's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to financial literacy and economic empowerment. We’ve reached over 1.2 million individuals in 70 U.S. cities, South Africa and Haiti.

But we’re about more than just numbers. Ultimately, we’re trying to put ourselves out of business. We build bridges between corporate America and underserved communities, replacing our own services with those of private lenders and financial organizations. In this way, we hope to provide the underserved with the tools, knowledge, and resources needed to fully participate in—and benefit from—a thriving capitalist economy.

Leading the Way: Our Programs and Services

The challenges of economic justice are multifaceted—and so is our strategy. Operation HOPE’s efforts span a broad array of programs, services, and movements at local, national, and worldwide levels. These include:

HOPE Financial Literacy Empowerment Centers. Our financial advisors help clients buy new homes, battle foreclosure, open businesses, and improve their credit—all for free. To date, our centers have restructured approximately $360 million in subprime mortgages. 

Banking on Our Future. Our volunteers enter classrooms in impoverished communities worldwide to teach kids how to get ahead—through financial literacy education and entrepreneurship.

HOPE Coalition America. In the wake of large-scale disasters, financial effects linger long after aid and media coverage have dissipated. We help clients recover financially from natural disasters, foreclosures, and other emergencies by providing financial guidance to victims of such disasters—assisting over 150,000 people after Hurricane Katrina and establishing a presence in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

HOPE Corps. We're always looking for compassionate, dedicated people to serve at the vanguard of our movement for financial literacy and economic justice.

Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline. We offer a free hotline service connecting individuals with with counselors that are ready to assist individuals in danger of losing their home. Our counselors have helped thousands of homeowners nationwide resolve challenging mortgage problems.

HOPE Global Initiatives. We’re expanding our services worldwide, marshaling local volunteers to improve the quality of life in developing countries through economic empowerment.

HOPE Advisors. With years of experience in financial literacy education and empowerment, we're able to provide the banking industry and communities throughout the world a blueprint for creating traditional banking customers.

The Five Million Kids Initiative. Championed by Ambassador Andrew Young and music legend Quincy Jones, the 5MK Initiative seeks to bring financial literacy—and positive role models—to five million kids across the country.

The Gallup-HOPE Financial Literacy Index. Through our partnership with Gallup, we are building a financial literacy index quantifying the connection between hope, well-being, engagement, and financial literacy.

Office of Innovation Research and Assessment. Through this initiative we are able to track the success of current programs, contribute to the development of the new Gallup-HOPE Financial Literacy Index, and analyze the impact of HOPE programs and services on youth, adults and the community at large.

Global Dignity. Led by Operation HOPE founder John Hope Bryant, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and Professor Pekka Himanen, Global Dignity promotes dignity for all through classroom education and conversation with world leaders.