Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Van Jones "Forced" Out of Nonprofit Dream.org, Despite Bezos’ Huge Contribution
Chelsea Alexandra
23 Aug 2023
🖨️ Print Article
Van Jones "Forced" Out of Nonprofit Dream.org, Despite Bezos’ Huge Contribution
Photo: CNN

Van Jones parlayed his fake leftist credentials into jobs at the Obama administration and CNN. The one-time phony Marxist turned Trump supporter showed his true colors when Amazon's Jeff Bezos gave him $100 million to play with but he was recently forced out of Dream.org. 

Originally published in Rolling Out.

In 2020, CNN commentator Van Jones was praised by Jeff Bezos for being a great philanthropic leader. In the same breath, Jeff Bezos gave Jones a hefty check of $100M to use as needed.

Jones was elated by this grand action and was believed to have used it toward his nonprofit Dream.org.

Dream.org is a nonprofit co-founded by Van Jones and Matt Haney focusing on addressing climate change, mass incarceration, and poverty by advocating for new legislation, teaching low-income children how to code, and creating green jobs.

According to The Daily Beast, Jones left the board this summer after struggling to agree on the organization’s direction with the leadership team.

Allegedly, a direct source is saying Jones did not leave willingly.

In addition to the shocking news, Jones is not the only person affected by the changes.

“One Dream subsidiary, an environmental advocacy initiative called Green For All, has been laying off staffers—even though Bezos’ climate fund awarded it a separate three-year, $10 million grant in 2020. The group tore through that money with little to show for it, several ex-employees said. Bezos’ nonprofit has not renewed the grant,” The Daily Beast reported.

All in all, Jones continues to work with Dream.org despite no longer running day-to-day responsibilities.

Jones’ spokesperson said according to The Daily Beast: “Van continues to work with Dream.Org in the justice innovation space and beyond. He is a proud supporter of their work at every level. With Dream.Org’s support, he is working to launch a new, complementary initiative, which will be announced soon.”



Bezos’ charitable fund has yet to comment on the news.

Chelsea Alexandra is a writer for Rolling Out.

Van Jones
Jeff Bezos
Black Misleadership Class

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Super Predators, Born Criminals, and the Black Misleadership Class
10 September 2025
The treachery of the Black misleadership class knows no bounds.
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
Katrina: The Rich Folks' Opportunity and Our Dismal Failure
27 August 2025
"Racism showed its ass in the days after August 29, 2005."
Jon Jeter
Across the Country, Black Voters Show Signs of Abandoning Black Mayors Who Have Abandoned Them
05 February 2025
The adage that "black faces in high places won't help us" still rings true when you look at Black mayors like Karen Bass, Eric Adams, and Lori
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
The Death of DEI
29 January 2025
Black people must be discerning about racist attacks on DEI programs while also acknowledging that “diversity” can be a con t
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Fear is Still the Motivation for Black Voters
27 November 2024
Kamala Harris is now a historical footnote who is heading for the dustbin of history.
Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
Bassackwards Tribe strikes again!
02 October 2024
“We must be brief when traitors brave
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
CHAPTER: The Ford Foundation and Black Power, Robert L. Allen, 1968
24 July 2024
The late Robert L. Allen broke down the dialectics of Black elite co-option and counter-revolution. Hello, Kamala.
Editors, The Black Agenda Review
SERMON: The “Pet Negro” System, Zora Neale Hurston, 1943
19 June 2024
Zora Neale Hurston’s sermon on the “Pet Negro” system provides devastating and timely insight into the
Rabbi Alam speaks at a rally
Jacqueline Luqman , Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Recognizing the Revolutionary Potential of the Abandon Biden/Listen to Michigan Initiatives
28 February 2024
It is prudent for Black people to join in coalition with the Arab and Muslim people collectively refusing to support President Biden
Fani Willis
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Phony Fani Willis, Misguided Support, and the Atlanta Plantation
21 February 2024
Public reaction to the Fani Willis soap opera is an example of how cynical Black misleadership creates confusion among the masses.

More Stories


  • Black Alliance For Peace
    BAP Condemns the Zionist Brutalization and Detainment of Chris Smalls, Emblematic of the White Supremacy at the Core of Zionism
    06 Aug 2025
    The arrest and assault of Chris Smalls is about more than the repression of any effort to subvert the genocidal blockade on Gaza; it exposes Israel’s attempt to sever Black and Palestinian solidarity…
  • Vijay Prashad
    Unilateral and Illegal Sanctions – Mainly by the United States – Kill Half a Million Civilians Per Year: The Thirty-First Newsletter (2025)
    06 Aug 2025
    A study in The Lancet estimates that unilateral sanctions have caused as much death as wars, with an estimated half a million deaths per year.
  • Pindiga Ambedkar , Arnold August
    Were Canadian Elections Existential in the Context of US-Canada Tensions? (Part 2)
    06 Aug 2025
    Interview with Arnold August, writer, political commentator, and analyst of the North American continent, on the political situation in Canada and its relationship to the US.
  • Khaled Barakat
    Saudi Arabia and France are Leading a ‘Political Genocide’
    06 Aug 2025
    The New York Declaration doesn't merely betray Palestine. It weaponizes the language of statehood to formalize the suppression of a people's right to exist without colonial rule.
  • Nicholas Mwangi
    Youth-led anti-corruption movement surges in The Gambia
    06 Aug 2025
    Gambians from all walks of life – led by the youth-driven GALA movement mobilized across the country on July 23 in an anti-corruption protest as momentum for change grows.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us