Small Business | Operation HOPE Blog

Nurturing Entrepreneurial Passion: Atlanta Program Graduate Launches Business

When Inari Batini came to HOPE Center Atlanta she wasn't planning on starting a business of her own, but she was curious. She thought, “I don't have a business, but business information is good, right?” Inari described her potential as "a lump of coal"- she didn't recognized her own talent and passions.

Micro-Lending Making Small Business Dreams a Reality: HOPE Center D.C. Client Leroy Jackson Featured on Kiva Zip

Starting a business in the current economy can seem like an unachievable dream. But Leroy Jackson has already shown that he can beat the odds. Now, with the help of Operation HOPE's Small Business Empowerment Program and the new Kiva Zip program, Leroy is turning his dreams into action and raising funds to start his own accounting and tax preparation business, The Jackson Group, LLC.

DC HOPE Center Enjoys Soaring Attendance and Program Growth

With new employees, growing participation rates, and budding excitement for workshops and programming, the DC HOPE Community is growing in numbers and enthusiasm.

HOPE New York Market CEO Mary Hagerty Ehrsam Discusses Entrepreneurship for African Youth

Chief Executive Officer Mary Hagerty Ehrsam speaks at the U.S. Department of State and Meridian International Center Young African Leaders Innovation Summit in Washington D.C.

Art Teacher Learns Small Business Skills from New Orleans HOPE Center

Ms. Helena Hayes Thomas is one savvy 70+-year-old. For thirty-five years, Ms. Thomas has been writing and painting to teach others, and she’s preparing to publish her third book. She’s created over 100 pieces of hand-crafted artwork, portraying Biblical themes like the Ten Commandments, and even copywriting some of her designs. With Operation HOPE’s technical assistance, she’s developed a...

New York HOPE Center Helps Playwright Achieve Dreams

Mr. Nickolas Long III, playwrite and director for his own theatre company, Josiah Theatre Works, LLC, discusses how the NY HOPE Center has helped him and his business in various ways, such as hosting auditions for his upcoming shows in the conference room, printing fliers and discount coupons for his shows in the Cyber Cafe, and talking to Christina Barrett for business advice.

Reflections from an Intern: Atlanta’s Entrepreneur Training Program Graduation

On Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Operation HOPE celebrated the thirty-two graduating students of the 2012 Entrepreneurial Training Class. Friends and family gathered at the Atlanta Life building to partake in the graduation ceremony of the first class in Operation HOPE’s history in which 100% of the students completed the course.

An Update from the Oakland HOPE Center’s Entrepreneurial Training Program

There are three weeks remaining for the Winter Class 2012 Entrepreneur Training Program participants to begin preparing for their final business presentation and graduation.

Daily News Features HOPE Entrepreneur Graduate, Antonia Badon’s Play ‘Zora Harlem’

Antonia Badon, a graduate of the New York HOPE Center's Entrepreneurial Training Program, was recently featured in the New York Daily News for her one-woman play 'Zora Returns to Harlem.' The owner of DovetailACTORS Studios in Harlem, New York, Zora has owned her own business since 2005.

New York HOPE Center Helps Launch Non Profit for Harlem’s Underserved

Street Corner Resource is a community-based service organization, located in Harlem that offers education, training, and employment opportunities to residents of a disenfranchised and greatly undeserved community.

Julio Meja Creates Business Plan at the Long Beach HOPE Center

Mr. Julio Meja shares how his experience utilizing the Long Beach HOPE Center's Cyber Cafe and being a member of the small business program impacted his life. Julio accessed the HOPE Center Cyber Cafe while creating his business plan, mission statement and investment funding.

Washington DC HOPE Center Entrepreneur Training Graduate Featured in Black Enterprise Magazine

Jenile Brooks, a recent graduate of the New York HOPE Center's Entrepreneurial Training Program was featured earlier this month as Black Enterprise Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Week. Brooks, a Detroit native, aims to use her business, Harvest Express, to bring fresh fruits, vegetables and more to her hometown, which is considered one of America’s most arid "food deserts." You can read the story here.

Huffington Post: Dr. King’s Dream and 700 Credit Score Communities

Our nation can and should feel proud of what we did to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. earlier this year, with the formal unveiling of the monument in his name in our nation's capital. That said, honoring the man is different from honoring his life's work, his commitments when he was with us, or more so, what he was working on when he left here.

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WHAT IS OPERATION HOPE?

Operation HOPE is America's leading nonprofit social investment banking and financial literacy empowerment organization.

Through several global initiatives and its three principal programs: Banking on Our Future (teaching school children about money), HOPE Coalition America (financial emergency preparedness and disaster recovery), and the HOPE Center Banking Network (loans, bill pay, computer literacy, understanding banking principles)HOPE is leading the “silver rights” movement towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities.

For more information about Banking on Our Future or other programs, visit us at our website.

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