Forbes just published the Self-Made 250 — 250 greatest living self-made Americans, timed to the nation's 250th anniversary. The list includes Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey.
Also on it: John Hope Bryant. Atlanta.
Bryant built Operation HOPE from the ground up — a nonprofit that has moved billions of dollars into underserved communities through financial literacy programming, small business lending, and economic empowerment. He didn't inherit a platform. He built one, in the South, in a city that doesn't always get credit for the serious institution-builders working inside it.
Atlanta has a habit of producing self-made people who do significant things and then not making enough noise about it. This is one worth noting.
If you don't know Operation HOPE's work yet, it's worth an afternoon of reading.
