Van Jones Biography

The American author, commentator, and television personality Van Jones was born Anthony Van Jones in 1968 in Jackson, Tennessee. Today, Van Jones is a highly recognizable contributor on the CNN network, and well-known for his bestselling books, but his interest in politics and social issues began while a student at the University of Tennessee at Martin.

At UT Martin, Van Jones was active on campus, overseeing and launching a number of different publications. After graduating with a degree in political science, Jones attended Yale Law School before moving to San Francisco in the early 1990’s. In San Francisco, Van Jones became an activist, spearheading movements to end police brutality and create multiracial awareness and tolerance. He began the Bay Area PoliceWatch and founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

By 2005, Van Jones had shifted his focus to not only issues of human rights, but also eco-capitalism and environmental justice. He established the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign the NGO Green for All, to help communities establish and maintain local green economies and support green jobs. Today, Van Jones advocates for conservation and regulation as a way to encourage not only environmental justice but to combat what he refers to as “environmental racism,” where ethnic minorities or low-income families are often forced to live very close to urban decay, pollution, and toxic waste.

Van Jones continues to be one of the era’s most recognizable public figures and authorities on a number of social and environmental issues. His two books – The Green Collar Economy (2008) and Rebuild the Dream (2012) – are both New York Times bestselling books, and he was recently recognized as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.