Van Jones

Eco-visionary, human rights attorney, and founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Van Jones is one of the most creative and unifying progressive leaders in the United States.

Today human society faces three grave perils: widening social inequality, radical environmental destruction and deepening despair. From the heart of urban America, new voices are rising -- proposing creative and holistic solutions for this triple-crisis. One such voice belongs to Van Jones.

Based on a decade of front-line activism, Jones offers comprehensive solutions and inspirational models. His visionary proposals answer the call for expanded opportunity, ecological sustainability and renewed hope.

"Van is one of the most powerful, original and inspiring speakers in the United States right now," said Jodie Evans, co-founder of anti-war group CODE PINK. "He makes you think. He makes you laugh. He makes you cry. And he makes you want to get involved. He is one of those rare speakers who can move people of every race, class and political perspective."

Jones is the founder of one of the most innovative racial justice organizations in the United States: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC). Based in Oakland, California, EBC works for positive alternatives to incarceration and violence in urban America. Van is also a passionate advocate for the environment and for responsible business. He has served on numerous governing boards, including: Rainforest Action Network, WITNESS, Bioneers, the New Apollo Project and the Social Venture Network. Van's efforts have earned him many honors, including the Reebok International Human Rights Award, the Ashoka Fellowship, and the Rockefeller Foundation "Next Generation Leadership" Fellowship.

While still in his 20s, Van Jones forced the San Francisco police department to fire a dangerous police officer and reform its policies toward the mentally disabled. He later helped scuttle plans to build one of the country's biggest youth jails.

Van has helped to build one of the nation's biggest networks of parents of incarcerated children ("Books Not Bars"). In the past three years, his organization has helped to cut the number of youth in California's prisons by 30 percent. In 2006, Books Not Bars helped get a bill signed into law that protects "special needs" kids behind bars in that state.

A passionate eco-visionary, Van is leading a cutting-edge initiative to bring environmentally-friendly "green-collar jobs" to Oakland, California. Working with Oakland's new mayor-elect Ron Dellums, his plan is to help establish in that troubled city a "Green Jobs Corps" and the nation's first-ever "Green Enterprise Zones."

In the wake of Katrina, Van co-founded the largest online activist community addressing Black issues (ColorOfChange.org).

Recent Publications about Van Jones:

Can These Crashers Save This Party? , by Tim Dickinson, San Francisco Magazine, May 1, 2006.

Redefining Radicalism Ella Baker Center Director Van Jones preaches hope on the group's 10th anniversary, by Steven T. Jones and Jessica Chandler, San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 20, 2006.

Redefining Radicalism Ella Baker Center Director Van Jones preaches hope on the group's 10th anniversary, by Steven T. Jones and Jessica Chandler, San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 20, 2006.

Topics covered

• The New Dream: Updating MLK’s Vision To Meet Today’s Ecological & Social Challenges
• All Together For Energy Action: Bridging The Black/Green Divide To Reverse Climate Change NOW
• “Green-Collar Jobs, Not Jails”: Moving From Jail Cells to Solar Cells In Urban America
• The Soul of Activism: Healing Our Movements For Social Change
• “Books, Not Bars”: Smart Alternatives To The U.S. Incarceration Industry
• Politics Of Hope: The New Path To Green Growth, Shared Prosperity & MLK’s Beloved Community