Speakers

Van Jones is a human rights and environmental activist who focuses on social inequality and the promotion of green economic development in urban America. In 1996, he co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights to promote positive alternatives to violence and incarceration in Oakland, California. He has created a Green Jobs Corps to train youth for eco-friendly jobs, and he is working with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies to establish a Green Enterprise Zone to attract environmentally sound industries. In 2005, he produced the Social Equity Track for United Nations World Environment Day to help develop policies promoting green cities. He is also the founder of a new national coalition to promote a Clean Energy Jobs Corps and the founding president of Green for All, a national campaign for green-collar jobs and opportunities.