HOPE Founder John Hope Bryant and FIVE MILLION KIDS National Co-Chair Quincy Jones Join World Leaders at the Clinton Global Initiatives to Present the 5MK Commitment Progress Report

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Music impresario and entertainment icon Quincy Jones and Operation HOPE (HOPE) Founder, Chairman, CEO and author of best-selling book, LOVE LEADERSHIP John Hope Bryant, join Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah Hashemite, Kingdom of Jordan’s panel during the Global Initiatives (CGI) to give focused attention to HOPE’s national financial empowerment initiative designed to reduce the High School drop-out epidemic and invest in America’s human capital. The initiative is called FIVE MILLION KIDS (5MK).

“Working with leaders from government, community and the private sector, we are looking forward to the official launch of 5MK, our financial literacy initiative targeting youth in a nation-wide campaign to 'Make Smart Cool and Sexy.'”

“HOPE and our 5MK partners believe that financial literacy is America’s first 'silver right,' and an essential component in any effort to promote personal self-sufficiency and empowerment,” said Bryant. “Working with leaders from government, community and the private sector, we are looking forward to the official launch of 5MK, our financial literacy initiative targeting youth in a nation-wide campaign to 'Make Smart Cool and Sexy.'”

Out of the thousands of 2008 Commitments, HOPE was selected to officially present a progress report on the success of 5MK and the plans for moving forward. The presentation was held during the Clinton Global Initiatives session on Developing the 21st Century Workforce and was facilitated by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah.

Last year, Operation HOPE, Quincy Jones and HOPE Global spokesman Ambassador Andrew Young, and other 5MK private and public HOPE partners made a CGI commitment to reduce the high school drop-out rate and empower five million youth, teachers, and parents to take control of their future. Since the announcement of the 5MK Commitment at CGI in September 2008, the following progress has been made:

Music and entertainment icon Quincy Jones has become the National Co-Chair of 5MK “Make Smart Cool and Sexy” Campaign.
Civil Rights icon Ambassador Andrew Young has become the National Co-chair Global Spokesperson for HOPE and 5MK Initiative.
General Colin Powell, Alma Powell, and America’s Promise Alliance have become official partners in the 5MK Initiative around HOPE and America’s Promise’s collective objective to reduce the high school drop-out rate.
42^nd U.S. Treasurer Ana Cabral has become the 5MK HOPE Corps Chair.
HOPE and partners celebrated the education of our 400,000 child participant in the BOOF Classroom edition.
HOPE launched the online version of Banking on Our Future (BOOF.Org) which will educate 4 million youth over 5 years.
HOPE launched the Banking on Our Future College Edition and signed an official Memorandum of Understanding with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to deliver the HOPE financial empowerment program to students on all 105 HBCU campuses within five years.
HOPE has secured 5 million dollars in in-kind media space towards the goal of 100 million over five years for the “Make Smart Cool and Sexy Campaign”
HOPE has launched the iHOPE entrepreneurship program and will certify 5,000 youth their own Apple applications business upon completion of the Banking on Our Future program, A Course in Dignity, and a ten hour Apple Application training. HOPE will also open up a starter savings account with each student.
HOPE has secured $740,940 in EITC funding with an average refund of $2,232 for parents.
HOPE has recruited and trained 2,050 HOPE Corps members for the 5% movement adding to a total of 9,129.

In the next five years 5MK will:

Teach 5 million kids, their parents and teachers how to get rich, legally through financial literacy; the language of money, free enterprise capitalism, and ownership.
Launch a 5% Movement, working to get the percentage of role models in our urban communities up to 5% or higher by placing a minimum of 25,000 volunteers in the classroom.
Partner with community-based organizations and financial institutions to open Starter Savings Accounts for the youth.
secure $50 million in Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) for parents, teachers and adults.
Open 50,000 new bank accounts for the unbanked and under-banked using the proceeds of their EITC benefits.
Secure 100 million dollars in in-kind remnant space media from television, cable, motion picture (trailer), radio, print, billboard, digital and other media companies to promote "Make Smart Cool and Sexy."
Inspire, recruit and enroll 50 celebrity personalities from music, television, film and sports to join in the "Make Smart Cool and Sexy" campaign.

Recruit 5,000 grassroots leaders.

“Doing nothing about children’s situations is no longer an option,” said Jones. “There are four core God-given rights that any child should have: the right to have a family, good health, an education, and hope.”

The official 5MK national launch will take place on September 29, 2009 in Los Angeles. Check www.5mk.org for more information.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Operation HOPE is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization. With more than 400 private sector partners, 1500 nonprofit organizations and schools, and 100 government partners in 68 major U.S. cities as well as South Africa, HOPE has raised more than $500 million in its pursuit of educating, assisting and inspiring the next generation of global stakeholders. Through international initiatives and its three principal programs, Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline, 1-888-388-HOPE, financial emergency preparedness and disaster relief), and Walk-In HOPE Centers (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles), Operation HOPE has delivered services to more than one million low-wealth individuals and assumed the responsibility of piloting the Silver Rights Movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities. To learn more about HOPE, visit www.operationhope.org. or read our blog at www.operationhope.org/blog.