WASHINGTON, DC - Operation HOPE will hold the first Global Financial Literacy Summit at the Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus, THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE, Washington, DC on Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair will headline as business leaders from around the world explore the importance of financial literacy as the fuel that drives sustainable and healthy consumer confidence in an unstable global economy.

The summit is being launched in response to the global economic crisis, the highest U.S. unemployment rate in 25 years (8.9 percent), a record low housing construction rate, down 12.8 percent, and a loss of consumer and market confidence due to deteriorating personal finances.
In addition to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, participants will hear from political, financial, business and community leaders through several plenary sessions scheduled throughout the day.

What: Global Financial Literacy Summit: Making a Business Case for Financial Literacy, Post Crisis.
Who: Ben Bernanke, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman; Sheila Bair, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Ambassador Andrew Young, HOPE National Spokesman ; John Hope Bryant, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Operation HOPE; 45 speakers representing 6 continents
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 17, 7:30 am -5:00 pm
Where: THEARC - Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus - 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE - Washington, DC 20020
Contact: Operation Hope - Renate Geerlings, 202-255-2744

Media Pre-Registration Requested through Renate Geerlings at rgeerlings@qorvis.com

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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 30 major U.S. cities as well as South Africa, HOPE has raised more than $400 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 assumed the responsibility of piloting the "Silver Rights Movement" towards making free enterprise and capitalism relevant to all underserved communities. For more about the summit or to register, visit www.operationhope.org/summit.

About THEARC and Its One in a Million Campaign

Since its opening in 2005, Town Hall Education, Arts and Recreation Campus - THEARC - has become a national prototype combining social, cultural and health services. It is a $27 million, 110,000 square foot center on 16.5 acres of land in Southeast Washington, DC, providing a daily haven for the children and adults it serves, with a wide range of arts, educational, recreational, and health programs and services, in addition to a 365-seat theater, a regulation-size gymnasium, computer lab, art gallery, and state-of-the-art music and dance studios. Recognized as one of the Washington regions best small charities, Building Bridges Across the River, the nonprofit organization that built and now runs THEARC, is featured in the sixth edition in the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington ( http://www.catalogueforphilanthropy-dc.org/). Further information is available at http://www.thearcdc.org/.

The "One in a Million Campaign for THEARC" is a $10 million grassroots endowment campaign launched in 2006 that seeks $10 from one million citizen donors to sustain the operations of THEARC. To date it has raised approximately $3 million. At the heart of the Campaign is the need to alleviate the operational budgets of THEARC's ten nonprofit organizations so they can further invest in programming for children and families. Donations are accepted online via www.thearcdc.org , by calling (202) 4-THEARC (484-3272).

CONTACTS:

THEARC Contacts:

Robert Udowitz

703.621.8060 udowitz@earthlink.net
Janet Stone

202.889.0450 jstone@thearcdc.org

Operation Hope

Renate Geerlings

202.255.2744 rgeerlings@qorvis.com
Sherry John

213.891.2908 sherry.john@operationhope.org

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