Solidarity, leverage, and mobility. These were the key messages delivered to a room full of area business leaders Oct. 10 by Van Jones, the environmental and civil rights advocate who co-hosted CNN’s Crossfire until it was canceled in late October.
Speaking as part of Sierra Business Council’s Peak Innovation Conference, Jones — who was the former Special Advisor for Green Jobs in the Obama administration — set to inspire the crowd to bring back innovative ideas into their own communities across the Sierra. Jones relayed how even though his father raised his family in poor Jackson, Tenn., he put his children through college and encouraged them to do their best.
“I know about doing things that are impossible,” Jones told the packed room at the Granlibakken.
He also told a story of how he had a goal of bringing green jobs to Oakland youth, and was eventually invited to a gathering of environmentalists by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Jones convinced her to lead a bill for green jobs, which ended up being signed by President Bush.
“That was the only thing Bush and Feinstein ever agreed on, and it was my bill,” Jones joked.
Jones, who is also co-founder and president of the political organization, Rebuild the Dream, said he did the impossible by getting a publishing company to publish his first book The Green Collar Economy. Numerous publishers told him that “black people don’t read ‘green’ books, and white people don’t read ‘black books’.” But it ended up getting published and reached number 12 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
He also spoke to encourage the audience to work together on initiatives and projects and leverage their strengths.
Said Jones: “If we can get it done in Oakland, think about the story you can tell for this region.”
