Anthony "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American environmental (Environmentalism) advocate, civil rights activist and attorney (Lawyer). Jones is a co-founder of three non-profit organizations. In 1996 he founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a California non-governmental organization (NGO) working for alternatives to violence. In 2005 he co-founded Color of Change, an advocacy group (Interest group) for African Americans. In 2007 he founded Green For All, a national NGO dedicated to "building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty." His first book, The Green Collar Economy, was released on October 7, 2008, and reached number 12 on the New York Times (The New York Times) Best Seller list (New York Times Best Seller list). In 2008, Time (Time (magazine)) magazine named Jones one of its "Heroes of the Environment (Heroes of the Environment (2008))". Fast Company (Fast Company (magazine)) called him one of the "12 Most Creative Minds of 2008".

In March 2009 Jones was appointed by President (President of the United States) Barack Obama to the newly-created position of Special Advisor (List of U.S. executive branch czars) for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he worked with various "agencies and departments to advance the administrations climate and energy initiatives, with a special focus on improving vulnerable communities." In July 2009 he became "embroiled in a controversy" over his past political activities, including a public comment disparaging congressional Republicans, his name appearing on a petition for 911Truth.org, and allegations of association with a Marxist (Marxism) group during the 1990s. Highlighting these issues, conservatives (Conservatism_in_the_United_States) launched an aggressive campaign against him. Jones resigned from the position in early September, 2009. "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Jones is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress and a senior policy advisor at Green For All. Jones also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.