> Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time New York Times bestselling author, a [[CNN]] host and contributor, and an Emmy Award winner. > > Jones served as President [[Barack Obama]]'s Special Advisor for Green Jobs in 2009 and a distinguished visiting fellow at Princeton University. He founded or co-founded several non-profit organizations, including the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change, and the Dream Corps. The Dream Corps is a social justice accelerator that operates three advocacy initiatives: Dream Corps Justice, Dream Corps Tech and Green for All. > > Jones has hosted or co-hosted [[CNN]] shows including Crossfire, The Messy Truth, The **Van Jones** Show and The Redemption Project with Van Jones. He is the author of The Green Collar Economy, Rebuild the Dream, and Beyond the Messy Truth; all three books rank as New York Times bestsellers. He is the co-founder of Magic Labs Media LLC, a producer of the WEBBY Award-winning Messy Truth digital series and Emmy Award-winning The Messy Truth VR Experience with Van Jones. He is a regular [[CNN]] political commentator. > > Jones worked with the Trump administration and members of Congress from both parties to pass a criminal justice reform effort known as the First Step Act. Jones was formerly CEO of the REFORM Alliance, an initiative founded by Jay-Z and Meek Mill to transform the criminal justice system. He was also a longtime colleague of, and advisor to, musician Prince. > > [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van%20Jones)