Molly Burhans

Climate Activist & Founder,
GoodLands

Molly Burhans combines her passion for people and the planet with her experience in design thinking, business development, and scientific research to understand and transform complex systems and make land work for good. As the Founder and Executive Director of GoodLands, Burhans brings her unique combination of skills and networks together to help communities manage their property for environmental, social, and financial impact. She was the Chief Cartographer for the first global data-based maps of the Catholic Church, and her trailblazing environmental and cartographic work with the Vatican has received international coverage and acclaim. Burhans is an Ashoka Fellow (2018), the 2019 UN Young Champion of the Earth for North America, and a Henry Arnhold Fellow (2020). She has been involved with the Vatican Youth Symposium, Vatican Arts and Technology Council, United Nations Youth Assembly, the Buckminster Fuller Catalyst program, and was an Echoing Green Fellowship finalist. She has also been an invited speaker at numerous conferences and institutions, including but not limited to Harvard University, Yale University, Esri, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and ICT4D. She holds degrees in Philosophy (Canisius ‘14) and Ecological Design (Conway School ‘15).