Sports, Entertainment Ownership is ‘Hope Global Forum’ Focus in Atlanta

“If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it.” – Jesse Jackson

Job creation and financial growth are marketable in all facets of industry. Including and especially the wide industry of sports and entertainment. That was a topic the HOPE Global Forum tackled during its annual summit in Atlanta. Though you may think it an odd pairing of Ambassador Andrew Young and entertainment mogul Clifford “TIP” Harris, it actually makes perfect sense considering they are titans of industry, just different but relatable footpaths.

Perhaps it’s a starting point that the weekend summit directed the spotlight on sports and entertainment, it is a step that has become more mainstream news due to the accessibility through various social media sources. There is more focus and questions about minority ownership, diversity through inclusion and relationship capital.

Quite simply, this renewed interest has more to do with the need to translate more between the creatives and the lenders. Clifford “TIP” Harris @TROUBLEMAN31 summed it up this way:

“For the people who actually invest in things that yield a great return, they need to develop a better understanding of what we do and how it can be lucrative.”

It’s heartening to see the forum bringing together like-minded individuals who want to contribute to the consensus and status quo. Which is how Ambassador Young and T.I. shared the same panel. The new hot button topic for wealth centers on the very things we, the general public, are involved on some level in our daily lives.

“We need to have some access and control of the financial control of sports and entertainment, of sports movies and music, which is going to replace the old records that we develop,” says Ambassador Young.

It also relates to relationship capital, a simple theory that often times gets overlooked. According to Ambassador Young about its inception, “John Bryant and friends responded to a crisis. They didn’t complain and they didn’t blame, they took charge of their own destiny, their own future, creating a global institution that is just really beginning to help pull together the peoples of the world around the financial needs. Whatever they are and wherever they might be and where they might be lead. “

Still, there’s not only safety in numbers but success is not a one-person race. T.I. speaks on why this generation and the next needs to become more financially aware and be involved with the HOPE Global forums:

“You have to learn about finance if you anticipate making money. Vision is a big part because if you cannot envision something then it’s that much further away from you. “

These are words to live by.

For more information, go to http://hopeglobalforums.org/

– Joseph Walker, III