Van Jones

In 2021, Amazon founder and prominent left-of-center political donor Jeff Bezos gave Van Jones $100 million to distribute to left-of-center nonprofit organizations and causes through a new “justice innovation prize.” ^{7 8} As of 2023, Jones is a part of the #Cut50 initiative, which aims to cut the prison population in half by 2026. ⁹ He is founding CEO of left-of-center REFORM Alliance, ¹⁰ and has co-founded or led other left-of-center organizations including Dream Corps, ^{11 12} Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, ⁹ Rebuild the Dream, Color of Change and, Green for All. ¹⁰

Career

Van Jones is a CNN commentator, left-of-center political activist, and former Obama administration official with roots in “radical politics.” ⁶ Jones supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement and the racial-advocacy coalition Movement for Black Lives. ³ He supports “transforming” the American justice system, has advocated in favor of convicted police murderer and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, ⁶ and supports future reparations and redistribution of wealth for African Americans in the United States. ⁵

Jones “made his name” in left-of-center environmentalist activism and anti-poverty activism in California. ¹³ In 2020, he celebrated President Joe Biden (D)’s election victory over then-President Donald Trump. ¹⁴

Following the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, Jones claimed on CNN that the election results were a “whitelash,” describing his claims that white voters voted against an African American president (Barack Obama) and a changing country in the election. ¹⁵

Van Jones has worked in various roles on news outlet CNN since November 2012. He was a co-chair of REFORM Action Fund of the REFORM Alliance, president of left-wing activist organization Rebuild the Dream. He is also a co-founder of left-of-center online organizing organization Color of Change and is the founder of Bay Area PoliceWatch, the left-of-center Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and Green Corps’ environmentalist branch, Green for All. ¹⁰

In the 1990s, Jones was affiliated with the radical-left organization Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM). Jones helped form the group and at that point in time described himself as a “communist” ¹ and “rowdy black nationalist.” ¹⁶ In 2004, Jones’s name was on a letter requesting an investigation into whether the George W. Bush administration allowed the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to happen as a “pre-text to war.” ⁶

He has won several awards including the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader Award, the Ashoka Fellowship, ¹⁷ and the NAACP Image Award. ¹⁸ He has received other awards from Rolling Stone and was ranked as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2009. ^{18 19}

Political Activism

Van Jones has described himself as a communist ¹ and as a critical race theory-influenced social justice activist. ²⁰ He has said that he has spent decades of his life trying to convince white people to take the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial justice seriously. ³ Jones has claimed that the “woke” have laid the groundwork for what he identifies as the “great awakening” of left-of-center advocacy in the United States. ³ Following the police-involved death of George Floyd in 2020, Jones claimed that African American men have been lynched by white men in the United States “for centuries.” ²¹

Jones has claimed that the far-left Black Lives Matter movement is the “most important development” in American society since the political rise of President Barack Obama. Jones stated that Black Lives Matter represents a new generation using their voices like the civil rights movement in the 1960s, except with smartphones and video cameras. ⁹ He has claimed that the United States was heading in the right direction after female soccer players and others took a knee during playing of the National Anthem for what Jones considered injustice in American society. ⁹

After Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Jones praised left-of-center Native American activist organization Native Organizers Alliance and other similar groups for their activism, claiming they were “responsible” for Biden’s victory. ²²

Van Jones supported the Trump administration’s criminal justice reform efforts, namely the First Step Act, ²³ and has said that politicians who say they are tough on crime are actually “stupid on crime.” ⁹ He also claimed that President Trump led “hateful, bigoted voices feel emboldened” during his first year in office. ²⁴

Durin[g the George W. Bush administration, Jones helped create the concept of a Clean Energy Jobs Bill during a 2007 meeting with then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The concept eventually became the Green Jobs Act, which became law in 2007. ^{25 26}

Obama Administration

In 2009, Van Jones was a special advisor in the Obama administration White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). ¹⁰ In this role, Jones was commonly referred to as the Obama administration’s “green jobs czar.” ²⁷

In September 2009, Jones resigned from the Obama administration due to his statements and associations prior to joining the administration. Jones was accused of signing a controversial statement suggesting that then-President George W. Bush was complicit with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, for which he later apologized and denied casting doubts about the September 11 terrorist attacks. ^{28 29} Jones was also forced to apologize for calling Republicans “a**holes” prior to joining the administration. ³⁰

Nonprofit Involvement

In 2021, Amazon founder and prominent left-of-center political donor Jeff Bezos gave Van Jones $100 million to distribute to left-of-center nonprofit organizations and causes through a new “justice innovation prize.” The prize was intended to give grants to organizations working on causes related to social entrepreneurship and the criminal justice system. ^{7 8}

As of October 2023, Jones was a part of the #Cut50 initiative, which aims to cut the prison population in half by 2026. ⁹ He is the president of Magic Media Labs and the founding CEO of REFORM Alliance, ¹⁰ which works to change the American criminal justice system. ⁷

Jones is the co-founder of left-leaning nonprofit advocacy organization Dream Corps and was the group’s president until August 2023. ¹¹ In August 2023, he was ousted from Dream Corps amid alleged financial mismanagement. ³¹

In 2009, Jones founded Green Jobs for All. In 2004, Jones persuaded the Nathan Cummings Foundation to give him $250,000. ³² He founded the left-of-center Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in 1996. ⁹ Jones has also given money to Beat the Block ⁷ and was previously a senior fellow at the left-of-center Center for American Progress (CAP). ²⁶