Operation HOPE Receives $1M Donation from Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation

ATLANTA, July 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Operation HOPE announced today that The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation has donated $1 million to the organization. The donation will expand the work of HOPE through its nationwide HOPE Inside network and help extend the organization's mission delivered under the banner of the Silver Rights Movement—the movement for rights to financial literacy, access to capital, and equity of opportunity, for all.

"We are honored to receive this generous gift from The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation to directly expand the reach and impact of the work of HOPE," said Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hope Bryant. "I have known Mr. Henry Kravis for 20 years. I know him to be a pioneer on Wall Street, a role model among business leaders, and now a hero on Main Street. Our shared vision is to create a stronger, more inclusive economy—and by extension, society through financial empowerment—and financial dignity. The impact on families and communities as more people and more local businesses succeed; the new investments and jobs that come to communities where people are financially secure and young people have the skills to be productive, represent true community uplift and personal transformation."

HOPE Inside, a unique financial empowerment model created by Operation HOPE to provide no-cost financial literacy coaching and education to participants through the support of financial and corporate partners, currently stands at more than 130 locations across the country. Core programming includes credit and money management, homeownership, and small business development. The model also includes HOPE Inside Youth, HOPE Inside Disaster, and HOPE Inside The Workplace, an employee financial wellness program that has been piloted in one of Mr. Kravis' KKR portfolio companies with plans to expand in the future.

"I am so proud to support Operation HOPE in its mission. This organization doesn't just focus on teaching the skills that people need to improve their finances. They also – and perhaps most importantly – teach people to believe in themselves through a financial coaching process that is driven by respect and dignity," said Henry Kravis, chairman of The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation. "Operation HOPE is not just transforming people's credit scores, but their lives."

In 27 years, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed over $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—impacting 1,467 U.S. cities and towns. Through the HOPE 700 Credit Score Communities initiative, the focus of raising client FICO scores to 700 is at the foundation of all HOPE Inside programming. Seventy-two percent of HOPE clients improved their FICO scores—35-point average—after 5.4 months, and a recent Accenture analysis reveals that Operation HOPE improves FICO scores at 2-3 times the rate of its peers.

About Operation HOPE
Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low- and moderate-income families across the nation. Through our community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. Project 5117 is our multi-year four-pronged approach to combating economic inequality that aims to improve financial literacy, increase business role models and business internships for youth in underserved communities, and stabilize the American dream by boosting FICO scores. Operation HOPE recently received its fifth consecutive 4-star charity rating for fiscal management and commitment to transparency and accountability by the prestigious non-profit evaluator, Charity Navigator. For more information: www.OperationHOPE.org. Follow Operation HOPE on Twitter and Facebook @operationhope

SOURCE Operation HOPE

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http://operationhope.org/#our_work