John’s entrepreneurial journey began with the visit of a well-dressed banker to his elementary school in Compton, California. The banker came to his class to talk about financial education for young people. John asked the banker what he did for a living and how one could get rich legally. The banker responded that he made loans to entrepreneurs. At that time, John did not know what an entrepreneur was but decided that he was going to be one. From that day, John has been involved in business. Starting his first venture at the age of 10 with a modest $10 investment from his mother, John has been a lifelong entrepreneur who has built more than forty organizations, entities and companies.

“Persistence and resilience are more powerful than pedigree and raw intelligence.”

John Hope Bryant is an American entrepreneur, thought leader, philanthropic executive, and a leading expert in financial and economic inclusion.

Bryant, named in 2024 by TIME Magazine to their inaugural list of The Closers, 18 global leaders working to close the racial wealth gap, is a CNBC Contributor, host of the iHeart Radio podcast, “Money and Wealth with John Hope Bryant,” a member of the CNBC Global Financial Wellness Council and the CNBC CEO Council, and a best-selling author of six books, including Financial Literacy For All, released in April 2024. He is one of the only Black bestselling authors on economics and business leadership in the world today.

Referred to as the “conscience of capitalism” by numerous Fortune 500 CEOs, Bryant is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Operation HOPE, Inc., the nation’s largest on-the-ground nonprofit provider of financial literacy. Bryant is also responsible for financial literacy becoming the official policy of the U.S. federal government (under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama) and is the only American citizen to ever inspire the renaming of a building on the White House campus—from the U.S. Treasury Annex Building to the Freedman’s Bank Building – in honor of Lincoln’s unfinished work to teach freed slaves about money in 1865. Bryant also inspired the Treasury Department to host a Freedman’s Bank Forum, which has continued annually under successive administrations.

Operation HOPE, with hundreds of offices across America, is working to level the opportunity playing field for underserved communities, connecting them to the private sector through inclusive capitalism at scale. Bryant’s personal mission is to unleash untapped human potential, resulting in increased national GDP (economic growth) and an intense focus on Inclusive Economics designed to enhance individual, organizational, and national economic well-being.

Bryant, the entrepreneur, is also chairman and chief executive officer of John Hope Bryant Holdings, Bryant Group Ventures, and Bryant Group Advisors. Until June 2024, he served as executive chairman of The Promise Homes Company (Promise Homes), the largest for-profit, minority-controlled owner of institutional-quality, single-family residential rental homes in the U.S. In December 2021, Bryant recapitalized and sold Promise Homes into a new joint venture, successfully closing a $200M credit facility to grow the housing initiative. According to Black Enterprise, it was one of the largest capital raises by a Black-owned company in more than a decade.

Organizations founded by Bryant have provided more than $4.2 billion in capital for underserved communities over the past three decades. The 1 Million Black Businesses Initiative (1MBB), conceived by Bryant and Shopify founder and CEO Tobi Lütke, was launched in October 2020 and has since started, served, or scaled nearly 450,000 Black-owned businesses, representing 14% of all Black businesses in America. On May 2, 2023, 1MBB was recognized by Fast Company with the 2023 ‘World Changing Ideas’ Award. Bryant also co-founded the Financial Literacy for All Initiative with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, uniting Fortune 500 executives to embed financial literacy into U.S. culture.

In early 2024, believing that artificial intelligence (AI) will overwhelmingly and positively impact society, but recognizing concerns about potential bias and discrimination affecting people of color and other underserved communities, Bryant, along with digital pioneer Sam Altman, CEO and Co-founder of OpenAI, announced the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council (AI Ethics Council). This council was designed to thoughtfully consider and advise on issues related to human dignity, equity, and inclusion, and to guide shared principles for AI’s future.

In Q2 2024, Bryant wrote ‘The Business Plan for America’, a blueprint for inclusivity and prosperity, emphasizing diversity and opportunity as cornerstones of economic growth. The plan aims to sustain the United States’ position as a global leader while ensuring shared prosperity.

In July 2024, Bryant launched the American Aspiration Tour to promote Financial Literacy for All and The Business Plan for America in cities across the U.S. Through town hall meetings with U.S. mayors, business leaders, and community advocates, Bryant seeks to connect (and reconnect) Americans’ aspirations so they can thrive in the world’s largest economy.

Bryant’s advocacy includes writing key articles for TIME. His works include “Financial Literacy Is the Civil Rights Issue of This Generation,” highlighting the importance of financial literacy in empowering underserved populations; “Financial Literacy Education Could Help Millions of Americans,” co-authored with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, advocating financial literacy as vital for long-term prosperity; and “Focusing on Improving Credit Scores Can Lift People Up Across America,” emphasizing how better credit scores can drive individual and community success.

In July 2024, Bryant also launched the Corporate Inclusion initiative, which aims to level the playing field in corporate America by placing qualified minority candidates on boards of directors, ensuring representation reflects the nation’s diversity.

Understanding the importance of education, fairness, transparency, and equal market access -especially for first-time investors – Bryant created an Investors’ Bill of Rights, calling for reforms to ensure the stock market remains a safe, inclusive environment for wealth creation.

Bryant’s financial empowerment work has been recognized by five U.S. presidents. He has served as an advisor to three sitting U.S. presidents from both parties.

In 2022, working with former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Bryant launched the HOPE Child Savings Account (CSA) program, providing qualifying Atlanta Public Schools (APS) kindergartners with a free savings account, a one-time deposit of $50, and financial literacy programming. Continued by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, the program also offers financial workshops for students’ parents, helping families build financial plans for the future.

On January 7, 2016, at Bryant’s urging, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew renamed the Treasury Annex Building the Freedman’s Bank Building. Former Atlanta Mayor and civil rights leader Andrew Young gave opening remarks, situating the event within the broader history of financial literacy and empowerment.

In 2021, Bryant helped design aspects of the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) to support small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2008, he inspired President George W. Bush to make financial literacy official U.S. policy. After 9/11, Bryant worked with the Bush Administration to develop federal policies on financial disaster preparedness, partnering with FEMA and Operation HOPE.

Bryant’s accolades include Oprah Winfrey’s “Use Your Life” Award, the “John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education” from the U.S. Treasury, and inclusion in TIME’s inaugural 50 Leaders for the Future list in 1994. He was named “Innovator of the Year” by American Banker in 2016.

In 2019, Atlanta proclaimed April 15 as “John Hope Bryant Day.” Operation HOPE and Bryant are featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In April 2017, with support from HOPE board member and First Horizon Bank CEO Bryan Jordan, Bryant helped establish a historical marker recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final flight to Memphis on April 3, 1968. The marker was unveiled at Memphis International Airport 49 years to the day of the event.

Bryant is a LinkedIn Influencer and one of LinkedIn’s “Top 10 Voices.” His series, “Straight Talk with John Hope Bryant”, has over 100 million views, leading to a Facebook-sponsored series, ‘Delivering The Memo.’ He has more than three million social media followers.

Born on February 6, 1966, in Los Angeles, California, Bryant resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, Chaitra Dalton Bryant.

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