Operation HOPE Announces New Multi-Year Initiative to Boost Financial Empowerment in Underserved Communities at 2013 HOPE Summit

Project 5117 outlines tipping-point for success and tracks impact of HOPE programs and services; announced to over 1200 Summit participants

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Operation HOPE (HOPE), the leading global financial dignity nonprofit, announced Project 5117 at the HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit in Atlanta, Georgia.  Project 5117, a multi-year initiative, will track and increase business role models for youth, boost credit scores for adults, and empower underserved communities. The initiative includes an informative online resource, which details the mission, project updates and future plans.

Project 5117 clearly sets the objectives used to track the impact of Operation HOPE's programs and services from now until 2020. Through Project 5117, HOPE aims to:

• Encourage 5 million youth to stay in school through the "make smart cool" 5MK Initiative, teaching youth financial literacy through Banking on Our Future by increasing the national average of role models in a community from 5% to 20%.
• Empower 1 million students to become future entrepreneurs and local job creators through HOPE Business In A Box;
• Open 1,000 HOPE Inside locations where individuals can receive financial literacy empowerment;
• Transform low-wealth communities, where the average credit score is 550, to 700 Credit Score Communities by raising individual credit scores.

"Project 5117 is the ultimate playbook for success that integrates HOPE's most vital programs and services," said John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE founder, chairman and CEO at today's summit. Project 5117 is modeled after the second phase of Dr. King's 'Poor People's Campaign,' which was the last great battle of his life. By helping to fulfill Dr. King's Dream, it is our goal to empower millions of families across the globe through financial literacy, financial inclusion and, ultimately, financial dignity."

Project 5117 is co-chaired by Ambassador Andrew Young, chairman of the Andrew Young Foundation and HOPE Global Spokesman Dr. Bernice A. King, chief executive officer of The King Center and John Hope Bryant.  Lead Project 5117 national partners already include the Gallup Organization, which supports HOPE Business In A Box, and SunTrust Banks, the 8th largest bank in the United States, which supports multiple HOPE Inside locations.

In partnership with the City of Atlanta, the two-day HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit, themed Global Economic Recovery: How The Poor Can Help Save Capitalism, and moderated by journalists Diane Brady, senior editor at Businessweek and Soledad O'Brien, framed the issues of financial inclusion, small business, entrepreneurship, jobs, and financial dignity as essential core ingredients for mid-to-long term economic recovery and stability. More than 1,200 of the most dynamic and influential financial industry professionals, government decision-makers and faith leaders from more than 30 countries around the world traveled to Atlanta for the Summit.  

To learn more about the 2nd annual HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit and how you can participate, visit http://summit.operationhope.org. Those not able to attend the Summit in person are encouraged to participate via live stream provided by Kaplan University by logging on at https://kapx.kaplan.com/operation-hope/.   

About Operation HOPE, Inc.
Operation HOPE (HOPE) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting financial literacy and dignity through various educational programs and initiatives. Since its founding in 1992, HOPE has served more than two million individuals and directed more than $1.5 billion in private capital to low-wealth communities. It maintains a growing army of 20,000 HOPE Corps volunteers, and currently serves more than 300 U.S. cities, as well as South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. At the core of HOPE's mission to eradicate poverty and empower people through financial literacy is a "silver rights" movement to ensure that free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved.

SOURCE Operation HOPE