YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Some call him the "Conscience of Capitalism." Entrepreneur and founder of "Operation Hope," John Hope Bryant made a stop at Youngstown State University Thursday evening as part of the university's Thomas Colloquium on Free Enterprise lecture series.

Bryant spoke to students about his business experience, as well as Operation Hope, a non-profit that provides financial literacy training for underserved populations.

 In addition to his non-profit, Bryan is the chairman and CEO of Bryant Group Ventures, as well as founder and principal of the Promise Homes Company, which is the largest minority-controlled owner of single-family rental homes in the country.

Five former presidents have recognized his work including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. 

In 2016, Bryant became the only private American citizen to inspire the renaming of a building on the White House campus when the U.S. Treasury Annex Building was renamed the Freedman Bank Building.