Our country is in the depths of an economic recession and ecological crisis. We need nine million new jobs in the United States. They must be jobs that can support families and jobs that do no harm to the environment. America needs her best minds generating smart and innovative ideas to create more jobs. Van Jones is one of those people.
Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009.
Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All.
Van also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
The Clean-Energy Economy
Van is the founder of Green For All, the national organization working to get green jobs to disadvantaged communities. He was the main advocate for the Green Jobs Act, which George W. Bush signed into law 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.
Human Rights
While best known for his promotion of green jobs, Van has been hard at work for nearly two decades, fashioning solutions to some of urban America’s toughest problems. In addition to Green For All, he is the co-founder of two social justice organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Color of Change.
Awards & Honors
Van’s work has earned him many awards and honors, including:
- Van was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2009.
- Van was designated by the World Economic Forum as a “Young Global Leader.”
- Van is a recipient of the international Ashoka Fellowship.
- Van was one of Essence Magazine’s 25 most inspiring African Americans in 2008. Last year, Ebony Magazine named him one of the Power 150.
Click here to connect with Van on Facebook.
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