Why you should listen
Van Jones has been a leader in the fight for criminal justice reform for more than 25 years. He has founded and led many thriving social enterprises, including the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color Of Change and the Dream Corps, a social justice accelerator that houses Dream Corps TECH, Green For All and #cut50. #cut50 recently led the charge on passing the FIRST STEP Act, a bipartisan Federal bill that the New York Times calls the most substantial breakthrough in criminal justice in a generation.
An Emmy-winning producer, Jones has authored three New York Times bestselling books, The Green Collar Economy (2008), Rebuild the Dream (2012) and Beyond the Messy Truth (2017). In 2009, he worked as the Green Jobs Advisor to the Obama White House, where he oversaw an 80 billion dollar investment in training and jobs development within the environmental and green energy sectors.
Some of Jones's honors include being named in Fast Company's 2008 "12 Most Creative Minds On Earth," Rolling Stone's 2012 "12 Leaders Who Get Things Done," Variety's 2018 "New York Power List" and TIME's "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2009.
