Van Jones is a newscaster, author, and attorney who is also famous as a New York Times bestselling author, having published 2 books and many other articles. Jones also worked alongside then-President Barack Obama as his Special Advisor for Green Jobs. You may also remember Van Jones from his work at Princeton University and as a co-host of CNN.

If you haven’t already realized how smart this individual is, the World Economic Forum recognized him as a Young Global Leader in 2004 and ranked him one of the “12 Most Creative Minds” in 2008. The next year, Jones was also named in the list of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. Let’s learn a little more about this interesting human.

Van Jones: Early Life and Education

Anthony Kapel Jones or Van Jones as you may know him was born on September 20, 1968 in Jackson, Tennessee. He was born to father Willie Anthony Jones, who was a high school principal, while his mother Loretta Jean was a high school teacher. Jones grew up with a twin sister, Angela Jones, and the twins are reportedly very close.

Now coming to his academic studies, Van Jones attended Jackson Central-Merry High School. He graduated from the institution in 1986. Jones then joined the University of Tennessee at Martin and majored in Communications and Political Science. However, after a while, he began to question his options and then moved to Connecticut to attend Yale Law School. Upon graduating from law school, Jones knew he wanted to change lives and move to San Francisco to become a revolutionary.

Van Jones: career

While in college, Jones worked as an intern, but she didn’t just want to settle for that. He went on to launch and run many independent campus-based publications such as the New Alliance Project, Fourteenth Circle, Periscope, etc. Her next role was as a legal observer for the NGO, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. The organization worked to reform the California juvenile prison system in 1996. However, he left the organization but left them with similar goals like Rebuild the Dream, Green for All, Center for American Progress, etc.

2013 was a big year for Jones as he landed a job hosting CNN’s CrossFire show. He was also the managing adviser to former President Barack Obama. Jones has currently served as a commentator for CNN. He has also written famous books like The Green Collar Economy, Rebuild The Dream, etc.