Financial Literacy For All Movement Announces Next Wave of National Member Companies

Mastercard, BlackRock, TIME for Kids, Nextdoor, FICO, U.S. Bank, Truist, First Horizon Bank and Santander join the 10-year financial capability initiative

Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (Mr. October) Joins as Celebrity Ambassador

Silicon Valley leaders Sarah Friar and David Riley issue challenge grant

News provided by

Operation HOPE, Inc.

Jun 30, 2021, 08:00 ET

ATLANTA, June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial Literacy for All, a national initiative to support embedding financial literacy into American culture, today announced the next wave of prominent leaders from business, sports and entertainment committing their organizations to advancing the movement.

Mastercard, BlackRock, TIME for Kids, Nextdoor, FICO, U.S. Bank, Truist, First Horizon Bank and Santander have joined founding members Walmart, Disney, NFL, NBA, Delta Air Lines, Walgreens, Bank of America, Khan Academy and Ares Management as part of this first-of-its-kind coalition.

Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson has joined Financial Literacy for All as a Celebrity Ambassador, in addition to the growing list of national endorsers. Mr. Jackson, who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball, was a 14-time All Star who hit 563 career home runs and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

Along with corporate backing, the initiative received its first private challenge grant. David Riley, investor and philanthropist and his wife, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar announced an inaugural $150,000 challenge grant from their family foundation, with the goal to spur other leaders from tech and finance to take similar action.

"I believe we are sitting in a moment in history right now, but history does not necessarily feel historic when you are sitting in it. It just feels like another day. What we do now can make all the difference,and we consider financial literacy to be social justice through an economic lens," said John Hope Bryant, Founder and CEO of Operation HOPE.

Launched in May, this 10-year commitment co-chaired by Walmart CEO Doug McMillion and Mr. Bryant has begun to reach millions of youth and working adults enabling them to achieve greater financial success for themselves and their families. Underscoring the need for financial capability, the National Financial Educators Council estimates that financial illiteracy costs American families an estimated $415 billion each year.

Over the next 10 years Financial Literacy for All intends to enable:

5 million working adults.
15 million family members.
50 million individuals overall.

All organizations are committed to the following principles, which entail:

Leadership at the top, with the commitment being driven by the C-Suite.
Embedded into the business plan of the organization.
Properly resourced to fulfill the scope of work.
Committed long-term, at least a decade.
Relevancy, to the intended audience.

Since its launch last month, Financial Literacy for All has:

Forged agreement on best practices and strategic rollout to all demographic groups at a plenary session hosted by the Disney Institute and Operation HOPE. The group examined historical approaches to financial literacy, shared their experiences and outlined an actionable vision to develop a best practice model to reach all Americans.
Posted a Resource Directory of nonprofits and agencies currently offering best-in-class resources in the financial literacy space, which will be periodically updated, is available on www.FL4A.org.

To follow the progress and expansion of "Financial Literacy for All," please visit FL4A.org.

Media Contact:
Bill Mendel, Mendel Communications
[email protected]
(212) 397-1030

Inquiries:
Kevin Boucher, Operation HOPE
[email protected]
(213) 479-7833

SOURCE Operation HOPE, Inc.