Van Jones

Van Jones is known throughout America as an award-winning political commentator with CNN, a non-profit founder, a bestselling author, and a leading advocate for human rights, environmental, and social justice causes. During his career, among many other accolades, he has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, won an NAACP Image Award, and been named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He currently also works as the CEO of the REFORM Alliance, founded by Roc Nation mogul Jay-Z and rapper Meek Mill to reform America’s criminal justice system. In 2021, he was awarded the first Courage and Civility Award by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The prize included an incredible $100 million that Jones could donate to non-profits of his choice.

Jones has hosted or contributed to some of CNN’s most important programs over the year, including The Van Jones Show, Crossfire, The Messy Truth, and The Redemption Project. Of his three New York Times bestselling books, 2008’s The Green Collar Economy was the first environmental book penned by an African-American to reach the prestigious list. His passion for environmental causes also led him to become the leading advocate of the Green Jobs Act, which became law in 2007 and was the first piece of legislation to codify the term “green jobs”. He has since worked with the Obama and Trump administrations, proving that his passions are ultimately above party politics, however polarizing they can be at times.

Among Jones’ other ventures is Magic Labs Media, a production company that produced the Webby-winning miniseries, The Messy Truth, in 2016. A 2020 follow-up, The Messy Truth VR Experience, won an Emmy.