Van Jones, Oakland Social Activist and Champion of a “Green Jobs Corps,” to speak at CPS Graduation

Van Jones, who founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, will deliver the commencement address at CPS on June 10th.  Named for an unsung civil rights heroine, the Center promotes practical alternatives to violence and incarceration.  Jones has won many honors in his work to find solutions to two of America’s biggest problems: social inequality and environmental degradation.  Among these honors are the Reebok International Human Rights Award and the international Ashoka Fellowship.  In addition, he was selected as a World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader” and won the Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” Fellowship.  Jones is also a national environmental leader and has established the Oakland Apollo Alliance – a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists and community organizations – whose mission is to create jobs in the modern energy economy, revitalize underserved communities and improve the environment.  On May 22nd 2007, Jones testified before Congress on the benefits of creating a Green Jobs Corps.  The “Green Jobs, Not Jails!” campaign in Oakland is a pilot program that will be a job training pipeline connecting different parts of the local workforce development community with emerging green jobs.  Jones aims to make Oakland a model city by creating the first-ever Green Enterprise Zone, which will attract environmentally sound industry to Oakland. 
Van Jones graduated from Yale Law School in 1993, and lives in Oakland with his family.