CNN’s Van Jones is forced out of his OWN wake non-profit criminal after spectacular brawl with bosses — two years after Jeff Bezos gave him $100 million to pump into charity
- CNN commentator Van Jones has been pushed out of his own nonprofit after failing in the senior ranks
- Jones was hailed as an extraordinary leader and was awarded $100 million by Jeff Bezos for his philanthropic efforts in 2021
- The fallout stemmed from disagreements over the direction of the nonprofit
CNN commentator Van Jones has been pushed out of his own nonprofit after failing in the senior ranks.
Jones has been hailed as an extraordinary leader and was awarded $100 million by Jeff Bezos for his philanthropic efforts in 2021, but now faces the humiliation of being kicked out of his own organization.
The Liberal left Dream.org’s board after a blowout with senior leadership, reported the Daily Beast on Thursday evening.
The fallout stemmed from disagreements over the direction of the nonprofit, multiple sources with ties to the organization told the outlet. Jones was forced to leave rather than leaving voluntarily, the sources claimed.
Van Jones was hailed as an extraordinary leader and was awarded $100 million by Jeff Bezos for his philanthropic efforts in 2021
Van Jones is best known as a CNN star commentator and has founded several non-profit organizations
It is not clear who the conflicts have been with, but neither CEO Jamie Lunder nor CEO Nisha Anand have made any public statements in response to the reports.
A subsidiary of Dream.org is also reportedly laying off staff despite Bezos’ climate fund — a separate $10 million three-year grant in 2020.
Several ex-employees said the group blew through the money with little to show for it, and Bezos’ nonprofit did not renew the grant.
“A lot of people have questions about the fiscal management that Dream.org has had,” said CeCe Grant, Dream’s former president.
A spokesperson for Jones did not deny being ousted from the board, but said: “Van continues to work within the judicial innovation space and beyond.
“He is a proud supporter of their work at every level. With the support of Dream.org, he is working to launch a new, complementary initiative, which will be announced shortly.”
A spokesperson for Dream said Jones retired from running day-to-day business in 2019, but “has continued to be a valuable resource to us, and we are excited to support the launch of his forthcoming initiative.”
Jamie Lunder, CEO of Dream.org, has not made a public statement since Jones’ impeachment was announced
Dream.org Chief Executive Officer Nisha Anand has not publicly commented on the matter
Van Jones was hailed as an exceptional philanthropic leader by billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2021
Jones, 54, is a star commentator for CNN and has sparked numerous controversies over the years.
Earlier this year, he caused a backlash for suggesting that the cops who beat Tire Nichols to death in Memphis in January were “driven by racism” — despite all being black.
Jones wrote in the aftermath of the incident that black people “are not immune” to the effects of anti-black racism and that the stories of police brutality should never be as simple as “white cop kills unarmed black man.”
“Society’s message that black people are inferior, unworthy, and dangerous is pervasive,” Jones wrote.
“Over many decades, countless experiments have shown that these ideas can infiltrate black and white minds alike. Self-loathing is real.’
He said this mindset could lead a black shop owner to “view customers of the same race with suspicion.”
“Black people can harbor anti-black sentiments and can act on those feelings in harmful ways,” Jones added.
He further suggested that the problem is that the black cops are “socialized” into police departments that treat neighborhoods as “war zones” and claims that police of all races are “internalizing” the idea that few cops are punished for atrocities.
Jones co-founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which focuses in part on police brutality, and was founder and CEO of REFORM, which works to reshape the U.S. approach to prison sentences.