by Sharelle Burt
May 11, 2024
According to Operation HOPE’s John Hope Bryant this is what the people need.
Operation HOPE’s founder, chairman, and CEO John Hope Bryant announced big plans under his “Business Plan for America: A Case for the Big Tent” during the 2024 Milken Institute Global Conference.
The non-profit founder, known for helping low- and moderate-income people succeed, highlighted historical data and comparative analysis that outlines a plan to help America carry on as the leader in economic strength — by laying out the importance of diversity. “America is today among the most diverse countries in the world. It’s also the world’s largest economy. Our individual and collective success has literally been built on immigrants and our diversity,” Bryant wrote in a lengthy LinkedIn post.
“It always has been, it still is today and it will be in the future. The choice to refuse embracing diversity and inclusion is the equivalent of jeopardizing the well-being of our children and grandchildren.”
The leader’s five-tier plan was laid out on May 6 during an off-the-record and closed-door session titled “The DEI Shake-Up: Assessing Progress and Pushback” with panelists Dina DiLorenzo, president of Guggenheim Investments, Jarvis V. Hollingsworth, chair of Teacher Retirement System of Texas, R. Don Peebles, chairman of The Peebles Corporation and founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital, and anti-DEI advocate, Bill Ackman.
The tiers tackle key components, including America’s demographics trending toward becoming majority-minority, successful capitalism models relying on diverse populations, why suppressing DEI initiatives is dangerous for business, the need to invest in the economic future of people of color, and why Americans need to increase individual wealth for the betterment of the country’s global leadership position.
With more and more companies and educational institutions dumping diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, Bryant laid out some interesting facts as to why DEI should be protected. According to a study from McKinsey, ethnically diverse organizations have a higher chance of outperforming other companies without diversity.
He also highlighted that racism in America simply doesn’t work, stating “financially, racism is a very poor financial choice for the country, our states and cities, and for our families themselves.” A 2020 report from Citigroup revealed racism and bias against Blacks alone, between 2000 and 2020 alone, cost the U.S. economy a hefty price tag of approximately $16 trillion.
The report continued to note that if racism were to stop, the U.S. economy would see an increase of $5 trillion over five years or the equivalent of 4% of additional U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) on an annual basis. “America’s greatest resource is its people, and we are doing a disservice to our country’s future by not taking an honest look at where our people are financially, how we got here, and how we can make sure that every American has the opportunity to generate wealth,” Bryant said.
He added,“My Business Plan for America was created to help us focus on the long-term as we move toward a majority-minority population and to help us strengthen the ladder to upward mobility to secure our collective future.”
