John Hope Bryant (born February 6, 1966) is an American
financial literacy
Financial literacy is the possession of the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources. Raising interest in personal finance is now a focus of state-run prog ...
entrepreneur and businessman. Bryant is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of nonprofit Operation HOPE, chief executive officer of Bryant Group Ventures and The Promise Homes Company, co-founder of Global Dignity, advisor to business and government and author of bestselling books on economics and leadership. He served as vice-chair of President Bush's Council on Financial Literacy,
[ a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability, the vice chair on the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and as the chairman of the Committee on the Underserved.
]
Early life
Bryant was born on February 6, 1966, in Los Angeles, California, and raised primarily in Compton
Compton may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district
* Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton
* Compton, Que ...
, and in the South Central area of Los Angeles, by parents Juanita Smith and Johnnie Will Smith.
Bryant started his first business at age 10, a neighborhood candy store. At age 15 he enrolled in the private K-12 Hollywood Professional School
Hollywood Professional School was a private school in Hollywood, California. Initially established as a music conservatory by pianist Gladys T. Littell in 1921 under the name Hollywood Conservatory of Music and Arts, the school quickly expanded it ...
and made connections which led to a career acting on television.
Career
On May 5, 1992, Bryant founded Operation HOPE, Inc. immediately following the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, California.
Spearheaded by Bryant, the first Bankers Bus tour occurred while parts of the city were still on fire. Bryant has organized and led over 15 bankers bus tours since HOPE's inception in 1992, including the cities of Los Angeles, Maywood and Oakland, California, Anacostia, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia, with the purpose of encouraging financial investment in low-to-mod communities.
On January 22, 2008, Bryant was appointed vice-chairman of the President's Council on Financial Literacy by U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
. He continued this work under President Barack Obama as part of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability (PACFC). He was appointed chairman of the new Subcommittee on the Underserved and Community Empowerment for the PACFC in January 2012.
Bryant directly inspired the creation of the City of Los Angeles loan fund (Administration of Mayor Tom Bradley), financial literacy as U.S. federal government policy, circa 2008, (George W. Bush Administration), U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Entrepreneurship Education (George W. Bush Administration), emergency financial disaster preparedness, response and recovery federal policy framework for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FEMA (George W. Bush Administration), commitments for 100+ local financial literacy councils across the U.S., and formalized the inclusion of FEMA into federal financial capability policy (a seat on the U.S. Financial Literacy & Education Commission for the Obama Administration).
Motorsports
In November 2014, Bryant started a pursuit in motorsports. His first track day
A track day is an organised event in which non-members are allowed to drive or ride around established motor racing circuits, or alternatively (though far less common) on closed or disused airfields. Most race tracks around the world now provide t ...
was a 2 Day event with Chin Track Days at Road Atlanta in a modified 2010 Lotus Evora
The Lotus Evora is a sports car produced by British car manufacturer Lotus. The car, which was developed under the project name ''Project Eagle'', was launched on 22 July 2008 at the British International Motor Show. The Evora S was launched in ...
. Bryant quote "fell in love with the track and the car" and further described high performance driving as "Buddhism at 150mph."
In February 2016, Bryant attended the Skip Barber Racing School at Road Atlanta and received his Full Competition Racing Certification.
In April 2016, Mark Lauth, CEO of Fantastic Racing, invited Bryant to join his FR-Shelby Racing Team for the 11th Annual Phakisa 2-Hour Endurance Race in South Africa driving a Shelby Can Am prototype race car. He took 3rd place overall with a total of 60 laps completed.
In October 2016, Bryant unveiled his newly acquired Shelby Mustang
The Shelby Mustang is a high-performance variant of the Ford Mustang built by Shelby American from 1965 to 1967 and by the Ford Motor Company from 1968 to 1970.
In 2005, Ford revived the Shelby nameplate for a high-performance model of the fi ...
GT350R at the Caffeine and Octane car show in Atlanta alongside a new project called Bryant Group Motorsports Academy which he describes as: "a new nonprofit organization that will be focused on inspiring, exposing and empowering young people with what we call their 'Identity Project.' Once a young person from an underserved community figures out what their 'Identity Project' is, there is not much in life that can stop them.....We believe that motorsports, which is connected to financial literacy and STEM (and physics), can open the door to untold, untapped opportunity, and could inspire a re-imagination of self for a generation of young people."
In February 2018, Bryant was invited to participate in an event with an amateur racing series, called American Endurance Racing (AER), at Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...
, driving a spec E46 M3 BMW. During Bryant's session, as he was approaching the turn 7 complex, Bryant passed another driver on the inside as a corner worker displayed a waving yellow flag indicating there was an issue on track. Unfortunately, Bryant did not see this first flag and continued at race pace and missed an additional 25 flags/two laps of full course yellow, as well as passing a stationary emergency vehicle and safety workers on foot while he was traveling at greater than 95 mph. According to Bryant's testimony on the YouTube channel VINwiki, he was focused on driving and missed the flags unintentionally. After receiving a black flag and getting off track, AER elected to remove Bryant, and the rest of the team, from the race that day. After the release of Bryant's video on VINwiki, AER and Bryant both released statements in response to the incident taking full responsibility for his mistake and further explaining the situation, respectively.
Appointments
On June 13, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
appointed Bryant to a four-year term on the non-partisan U.S. Community Development Advisory Board for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) promotes economic revitalization in distressed communities throughout the United States by providing financial assistance and information to community development financial institut ...
(CDFI Fund), at the U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
.
In September 2008, he was selected to be a member of the Global Agenda Council for the World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
On January 29, 2010, he became a part of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability.
Honors and awards
* 1994: selected by ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine as "One of America's 50 Most Promising Leaders of the Future," as part of their 50 for the Future cover story.
* 1998, the first African-American to be knighted by German nobility and the royal House of Lippe.
* 2004 he received an honorary Doctorate Degree of Humane Letters
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the tim ...
from Paul Quinn College
Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a Private college, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist E ...
in Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas, for his work around education and poverty eradication.
* 2005, received the Crystal Heart Award from the University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
School of Social Work for his work in community service.
*2010, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers received Bryant on behalf of the Republic of Latvia as the second speaker for the Latvia Presidential Speaker Series at Latvia University, on the topic of "The Economic Reset, Love Leadership in a fear-based world, and financial literacy as a new civil right."
* 2010, ''Newsmax
Newsmax (Newsmax Media, Inc. or Newsmax.com, previously styled NewsMax) is an American right-wing to far-right cable news and digital media company founded by Christopher Ruddy on September 16, 1998. Newsmax Media divisions include its cable ...
'' magazine named him for his work at Operation HOPE, as one of their 2010 Heroes.
*2011, ''The Root
"The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...
'' named him to its 2011 100 List of Influencers and Iconoclasts.
*2011, Operation HOPE and Bryant received the Marcus Garvey Bridge Builder in the Diaspora Award during the 16th Annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference in Jamaica.
*2012, Leaders and Legends Award from the California Black Chamber of Commerce at their annual conference in Sacramento, California.
*2012, Working Group Advisor to CGI America for the Clinton Global Initiative and former U.S. President Bill Clinton
* Bryant is the namesake of the "John Bryant Scholarship in Urban Social Development", a permanent scholarship fund at the University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
School of Social Work.
* Named 2016 Innovator of the Year by ''American Banker
''American Banker'' is a Manhattan-based trade publication covering the financial services industry. Originally a daily newspaper, the print edition ceased publication in 2016, with an online edition continuing to be updated. The first issue of ...
'' magazine
* '' Inc.'' "The World's 10 Top CEO's" in 2016 (honorable mention)
*''Atlanta Business Chronicle
The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition.
History
The ''Atlanta Business ...
''
The Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans in 2020
*''Northside Neighbor
Northside or North Side may refer to:
Music
* Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England
* NorthSide, an American record label
* NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark
* "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vince ...
''
Bryant Talks Success, Mentorship at Buckhead Group Meeting
* Member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students with nine other Howard students as char ...
Bibliography
*
The Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation
'' Bryant, John Hope Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2017,
*''How the Poor Can Save Capitalism
John Hope Bryant (born February 6, 1966) is an American financial literacy entrepreneur and businessman. Bryant is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of nonprofit Operation HOPE, chief executive officer of Bryant Group Ventures a ...
'' Bryant, John Hope Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014,
*'' Love Leadership:The New Way To Lead In A Fear-Based World'' Bryant, John Hope Jossey-Bass
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...
, 2009, ,
*''Actions Speak Loudest: Keeping Our Promise For A Better World'' McKinnon, Robert, Williams, Juan The Lyon Press, 2009, ,
*''Banking on our Future: a Program for Teaching You and your Kids about Money'' by Bryant, Beacon Press
Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as James B ...
, 2002,
* ''Silver Rights Movement Book Series''
* ''Dignity in the Middle East''
* ''Fixing the Jericho Road: The Silver Rights Movement and the Good Samaritan''
* ''Silver Rights Movement in Africa''
* ''The Wealthless Power''
* ''The Ownership Society''
* ''Racism and the Silver Rights Movement''
* ''Banking on Our Future: The Promise for America's Unbanked''
* ''The Silver Rights Movement''
* ''Leave No Community Behind''
Further reading
*"The New Color of Success: Twenty Young Black Millionaires Tell You How They're Making It", by Niki Butler Mitchell, ''Prima Lifestyles'' (December 15, 1999),
*''Face Forward: Young African American Men in a Critical Age'', by Julian C.R. Okwu, Chronicle Books (March 1, 1997),
References
External links
Leave No Community Behind, by John Bryant, (2001)
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, John Hope
Living people
1966 births
People from Compton, California
Paul Quinn College alumni
Philanthropists from California