Van Jones

Infobox Person
name = Van Jones


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caption = Van Jones at the Dream Reborn Conference in 2008
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birth_date = 1968
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nationality = United States
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known_for = 1998 Reebok Human Rights Award winner
1994 Echoing Green Fellow
education = University of Tennessee at Martin
Yale Law School
employer = Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
occupation = Civil Rights and Human Rights Activist
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Van Jones (born 1968) is a civil rights and environmental advocate in Oakland, California, working to combine solutions to social inequality and environmental justice. Jones is the president and founder of Green For All, a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green For All grew out of Jones' work creating a 'Green Job Corp' in Oakland, California, as part of a program at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Jones founded the Ella Baker Center in 1996. Named for the civil rights and human rights heroine Ella Baker, the Center challenges human rights abuses in the United States criminal justice system and "promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration."

In 1997, a Jones-led campaign helped convince the San Francisco Police Commission to fire controversial police officer Marc Andaya. From 2001 to 2003, Jones played a key role in blocking the construction of a proposed "Super-Jail for Youth" in Alameda County.

Jones won his first major award in 1998 when he was given the Reebok Human Rights Award. Other significant awards, include: the international Fellowship; Echoing Green Fellowship; selection as a World Economic Forum "Young Global Leader;" the Rockefeller Foundation "Next Generation Leadership" Fellowship; Elle Magazine Green Award 2008; George Lucas Foundation's "Daring Dozen 2008;" Hunt Primee Mover Award 2008; and Campaign for America's Future "Paul Wellstone Award 2008."

Jones has served on the boards of numerous environmental and nonprofit organizations, including the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers Julia Butterfly Hill’s "Circle of Life" organization and Free Press. He is also a Senior Fellow with Center for American Progress and a Fellow at IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences).

Jones currently focuses on green economic development for urban America. In 2007, the City of Oakland adopted the Ella Baker Center's "Green Jobs Corps" proposal, which provides $250,000 to train youth for eco-friendly “green-collar jobs.” Jones was also instrumental in helping to get the Green Jobs Act of 2007 passed, which authorizes $125 million to train workers for green collar jobs.

Jones is a native of West Tennessee. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1990, then attended Yale Law School, where he received a J.D degree in 1993. He is married and a father.

References

* [http://ellabakercenter.org/page.php?pageid=45 'Staff and Board', "Ella Baker Center" (2007)] Retrieved January 25 2007.
* [http://www.nathancummings.net/AG_details_2004/000822.html 'Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in California', "The Nathan Cummings Foundation" (2004)] Retrieved January 28 2007.
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/ 'Van Jones' "The Huffington Post" (2007)] Retrieved January 28 2007.
* [http://www.speaktruth.org/defend/profiles/profile_13.asp 'Van Jones: Speak Truth to Power Defender' "Speaktruth.org" (2007)] Retrieved February 06 2007.

ee also

*Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
*Social Justice
*Human Rights
*Civil Rights
*Green for all

External links

* [http://ellabakercenter.org The Ella Baker Center website]
* [http://vanjones.net Van Jones' personal website]
* [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/ Van Jones' blog on The Huffington Post]
* [http://www.thewitness.org/article.php?id=695 An interview with Van Jones in The Witness]
* [http://www.collagefoundation.org/people/people-vanjones.html Biography of Van Jones]
* [http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/23/creating_greencollar_jobs.php "Creating Green-Collar Jobs" by Van Jones and Ben Wyskida]
* [http://www.alternet.org/authors/5998 Stories by Van Jones on alternet.com]
* [http://www.rabble.ca/rpn/podcast.php?id=fie Great podcasts of Van Jones' speeches put to music]
* [http://myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Van_Jones_07 Story on Van as a modern hero, by Rosemary Pritzker]