Van Jones
*Van Jones was born on this date in 1968. He is a Black environmental and civil rights activist and attorney.
Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones was born in Jackson, TN. His parents were middle-class schoolteachers. After graduating from Yale Law School, Jones founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a California non-governmental organization working for alternatives to violence. In 2005, he co-founded Color of Change, an advocacy group for African Americans. In 2007, he co-founded Green For All with Majora Carter, a national non-governmental organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
His first book, The Green Collar Economy, was released in 2008 and reached number 12 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Time magazine named Jones one of its "Heroes of the Environment," and Fast Company called him one of the "12 Most Creative Minds of 2008". At Princeton University, he holds a joint appointment as a distinguished visiting fellow in the Center for African American Studies and the Program in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Jones is on the board of several organizations and non-profits, including Demos, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, and the Campaign for America's Future.
