Margaret Linsly “Molly” Bangs (she/her) is a researcher, writer, and advocate. Her areas of expertise include human rights, sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice, women’s representation in government and peace negotiations, international law and institutions, and social justice. Her work has been published in VICE, Truthout, and the Huffington Post, as well as on equityfwd.org and TCF.org; in 2022, she launched a newsletter, The Pluralia.
Molly has a strong background in American and international policy and politics. She currently works as a program officer at the Institute on Gender, Law, and Transformative Peace at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, as well as a research consultant for social impact nonprofits She previously served as the director of the progressive reproductive rights organization, Equity Forward, where she also worked as a researcher. Molly has also worked at The Century Foundation, a progressive policy think tank, as a researcher, writer, and editor. In these roles, she has published policy papers on topics ranging from the legal codifications of gender based violence in Kuwait versus the United States to women running for office, as well as prepared and presented briefings for Capitol Hill on issues including the Title X family planning program, workplace harassment, and human rights policy under Trump’s State Department. She regularly conducts public records research, analyzes public policy, and tracks legislation. Molly has been interviewed on her work by news outlets including The Guardian, Vox, Salon, and Buzzfeed News; she has spoken on panels at the UN, The Century Foundation, CHANGE, Ipas, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society.
Her belief that political research should be accessible is rooted in her background in journalism: in addition to freelance work, Molly is an alumna of the Huffington Post, where she worked as an editor and writer on international beats such as gender based violence, climate justice, and the United Nations’ sustainable development goals; she has also edited academic papers for clients including Rights CoLab and Next100. She began her career in the New York City Council as a legislative aide and speechwriter, and held internships at the Rockefeller Foundation and the Aspen Institute.
Molly graduated cum laude from Connecticut College with a BA in government and a minor in Hispanic studies; she is an alumna of the school’s newspaper, The College Voice. She holds an MA in political science from Columbia University, where she was trained in quantitative and qualitative political methodology and worked at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Molly speaks Spanish and is doing her best to learn French; she loves yoga, curating playlists, and painting. She calls New York City home.
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