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The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) is holding its annual meeting (9/23-25) in New York with heads of state, business leaders, philanthropists and representatives from NGOs. Founded in 2005 by former President Bill Clinton, the Initiative’s goal is to find creative solutions to major problems. John Bryant, a founding member of the Clinton Global Initiative, said the meeting is about bringing people together to achieve measurable results. “I don’t think the government alone can solve these problems anymore. I don’t think the private sector alone can solve these problems anymore. I don’t think philanthropy alone can solve these problems. The beautiful thing about CGI – it’s one huge collaboration. It’s one huge convening force for action and commitments,” he said. Bryant is founder and CEO of Operation Hope, which he described as a global leader in financial dignity. He said the idea is to give people a hand up, not a handout. “Financial literacy is one example of that. If you were alive in the 20th Century, the issue was democracy. The way you codified that was the right to vote. But in the 21st Century the world is being ruled by the language of money, free enterprise or the lack thereof, the economy, the economic situation. So if you don’t understand the language of money, financial literacy, and you don’t have a bank account, you’re an economic slave,” he said. In the US, Operation Hope helps raise the credit rating of people in poor neighborhoods. He said doing so can literally change the neighborhood itself. | 
