JACKSON, Miss.– Hope Enterprise Corporation, an affiliate of Hope Credit Union, has been chosen by the Lipman Family Prize as one of two winners of its Beacon Award.
Managed by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Lipman Family Prize recognizes change-makers that “bring innovative ideas to new places and problems around the world” and “celebrates leadership and innovation in the social sector with an emphasis on impact and [the] transferability of practices.”
Previous Lipman Prize honorees were eligible for the Beacon Award. HOPE and fellow awardee CareMessage will receive $250,000 in unrestricted funds. According to the organization, key factors in HOPE’s selection were its effectiveness in delivering financial services to disenfranchised communities, and influencing policies and practices that increase economic mobility in one of the most impoverished regions in the United States, in this case the Mississippi delta region.
“For centuries, Black, rural, poor people across the Deep South have lacked equitable access to the resources needed to support their families and their communities” said Bill Bynum, CEO of Hope Enterprise / Hope Credit Union (HOPE). “Not only will the Beacon Award enable us to help more people climb the economic ladder, but it will shine a bright light on what is possible when opportunity is made available to people regardless of their race, place or gender.”
‘Game-Changing Leaders’
Added Barry Lipman, founder of the Barry & Marie Lipman Family Prize, “Our past honorees have already proven to be game-changing leaders in innovation and impact so who better for the Prize to support to maximize expansion both within the organization and throughout the social sector.”
As CUToday.info reported here, HOPE Credit Union was also recently selected for a $10 million “transformational deposit” from Netflix.