On October 22, the Aspen Institute and Institute Trustee Anne Welsh McNulty announced William Bynum and Hope Credit Union (HOPE) as the winners of the sixth annual John P. McNulty Prize. The $100,000 prize recognizes the spirit of innovation and excellence of private sector leaders who use entrepreneurship to address important global social issues.
Bynum has advised Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama on community development issues. The Henry Crown Fellow founded HOPE to provide financial services that support jobs, housing, access to health care, and other critical needs in the region’s most distressed communities.
Burdened with the highest poverty rates in the nation, individuals, businesses, and communities in the South have long suffered from a lack of access to traditional financial services.
“Our goal is to ensure that hardworking people have access to the tools they need to buy homes, start businesses, educate their children, and otherwise support their families regardless of their station in life,” said Bynum. “Hopelessness in a community is when there isn’t a clear path to a better future. At HOPE, we provide a vehicle for people to work together, and boost each other up to that next rung on the economic ladder.”
Bynum and HOPE were one of four finalists in this year’s competition, and will be honored at the annual McNulty Prize reception in New York City on November 6. The other 2013 finalists include India Leadership Initiative Fellow and Naandi Foundation CEO Manoj Kumar in India; Catto Fellow Adam Lowry of Ocean Plastic Project in San Francisco, Calif.; and Henry Crown Fellow Chinwe Onyeagoro of FundWell in San Francisco, Calif. Each finalist received $10,000.
Watch the video below to learn more about Bynum and the Hope Credit Union.
To learn more about the John P. McNulty Prize, visit http://mcnultyprize.org/#home.
Related:
Bynum: Just Give Me 5 Minutes With The President And I’d Tell Him…
Charitable Donations Critical Piece of Funding for Hope’s Mission
