How might we address income inequality, the civil rights issue of our time? What happens when you up-end all the negative stereotypes about banks and put them squarely in service of the community? When banks started disappearing in the Mississippi Delta, transforming low- and mid-income communities into ‘bank deserts’ where people couldn’t get a loan or secure their savings, William Bynum turned despair into hope by founding a new sort of bank. The HOPE Credit Union empowers communities with member-owned financial cooperatives that help people start businesses, educate their children, buy homes and support their families. Since 1998, HOPE has grown to 27,000 members and has generated $1.7 billion in financing for entrepreneurs, home buyers, and community development projects. It has directly benefited more than 400,000 people. Bynum was awarded the 2013 John P. McNulty Prize for addressing income inequality, the civil rights issue of our time. The $100,000 award will help fuel his vision: that all hard-working people in the Mid-South have the financial resources they need to make hope a reality.