Van Jones

Founder, Dream Machine Innovation Labs

Van Jones is a U.S. media personality, entrepreneur and world-class changemaker. Jones has a rare track record of bringing people together to do hard things – in areas as diverse as clean energy solutions, criminal justice reform and racial inclusion in the tech sector. In 2007, Van was the primary champion of the Green Jobs Act, signed into law by George W. Bush. In 2009, he worked in the Obama White House as the Special Advisor for Green Jobs. In 2018, he helped pass the FIRST STEP Act, signed into law by Donald Trump; the New York Times calls that legislation the most substantial breakthrough in criminal justice in a generation.

In 2021, Jones was the first recipient of Jeff Bezos’ Courage & Civility Award. He has since founded Dream Machine Innovation Lab and launched RAPPORT.co, which uses A.I. to increase firms’ EQ. A Yale Law School graduate, Van is a CNN host, an Emmy Award-winning producer, a 3X New York Times best-selling author and the creator of the Van Jones Substack