ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson co-chaired a financial literacy forum with Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education Dan Iannicola celebrating the first anniversary of the Hope Center in Anacostia, a low-income section of Washington, D.C. The center aims to serve as a one-stop-shop for credit counseling, mortgage loan funding, workforce development and training, and small business technical assistance grants. The Hope Center, which is dedicated to improving the economic quality of life in emerging markets, held a one-day economic summit to celebrate its progress. The panel discussed how the public and private sectors can work together to bring financial education to Americans of all ages. “Financial literacy is an issue that is vital to Americans of all ages and backgrounds,” Johnson said. “It is never too early, or too late to learn about handling money responsibly. However, the sooner we reach America's youth with the tools of financial education, the better the opportunities will be for them to reach the financial mainstream.” Other summit speakers and session leaders included World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz; Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams; Operation Hope Chairman John Hope Bryant; SBA Administrator Hector Barreto; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson; Securities and Exchange Commissioner Paul Atkins; Comptroller of the Currency John D. Dugan; The White House Office of USA Freedom Corps Director Desiree Sayle; and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke. More information on Operation Hope and Hope Centers is available at www.operationhope.org. -

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