People >
Molly Mills
Director of Programming
Molly graduated from Brown University with a dual concentration in Sociology and American Civilization in which she received honors. Throughout her time at Brown, she studied youth in participatory learning environments and those who undertook entrepreneurial efforts to achieve social goals.
Molly worked for four years on the International Youth Research Network (IYRN), a team which examines organizations where youth take initiative over learning through participation, engagement with their communities, and entrepreneurship. This enlivened her belief in youth civic participation and indulged her passion for teaching which started in high school where she taught violin lessons and tutored math and progressed to co-teaching an Informal Education course at Brown. To further pursue her interest in supporting the social change efforts of young people, Molly joined the Social Innovation Initiative (SII) at Brown’s Howard Swearer Center in 2008. She became the Co-Chair of the Social Venture Track the following year and designed and implemented a multi-stage grant competition for early-stage social ventures.
These experiences heightened Molly’s interest in youth engagement and agency and made her aware of the inequities which affected the opportunities and outcomes of youth as they attempted local, national, or international learning and projects. Molly’s honors thesis, entitled “In Their Own Words: Discourse, Decision-Making, and Creativity of Young Migrant Women in Northern California”, reflected upon the necessary skills, community resources, and open forums needed for underrepresented young women to engage with their communities and make decisions about their future plans. In 2009, Molly conducted research for the National Trust for Historic Preservation which proposed improvements to NTHP outreach in historic Latino communities in order to better address the interests and needs of these largely untargeted populations.
Moving forward with Generation Citizen, Molly hopes that her belief in the power of youth, her passion for learning, and her creative planning skills will aid in the effort to make all young people see themselves as active and vital citizens in their communities.