VAN JONES is president and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, a platform for bottom-up, people-powered innovations to help fix the U.S. economy. A Yale-educated attorney, Van has written two New York Times Best Sellers: The Green Collar Economy, the definitive book on green jobs, and Rebuild the Dream, a roadmap for progressives in 2012 and beyond. Van is currently a CNN Contributor. In 2009, Van worked as the green jobs advisor to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the inter-agency process that oversaw $80 billion in green energy recovery spending.
Awards & Honors:

Visiting Fellow in Collaborative Economics at Presidio Graduate School
Member of the international Ashoka Fellowship
Rolling Stones’ 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done in 2012
A 2005 World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader”
One of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2009
One of Fast Company’s 12 Most Creative Minds on Earth
One of Essence Magazine’s 25 Most Inspiring African Americans in 2008
One of Ebony Magazine’s 2011 Power 150
Former distinguished visiting professor at Princeton University
Former Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and American Progress Action Fund


Leadership on a Clean-Energy Economy:
Van is the founder of Green For All, a national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities. He was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act; signed into law by George W. Bush in 2007, the Act was the first piece of federal legislation to codify the term “green jobs.” Under the Obama administration, it has resulted in $500 million for green job training nationally.
Leadership on Human Rights:
While best known as a pioneer in the environmental movement, Van has been hard at work in social justice for nearly two decades, fashioning solutions to some of urban America’s toughest problems. He is the co-founder of two social justice organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change.
Board Membership:
Van is on the board of several organizations and non-profits, including: National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), Presidio and Demos.