Molly Hemstreet

Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director | The Industrial Commons

Molly is Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director for The Industrial Commons. She co-founded the organization in 2015 to support industrial workers across her region. She is a native of Morganton, NC where she continues to work and raise her family. After attending Duke University she returned home to teach in the public school system. She then worked for the Center for Participatory Change, organizing economic development initiatives across rural Western NC in a response to the need for fair livelihoods. In 2008, she founded Opportunity Threads, currently the largest US-based worker-owned, cut-and-sew facility. She also co-founded the Carolina Textile District in 2013, a strategic value chain supporting the resurgence of textiles across the Carolinas. Molly served on the national board of the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) and was a founding board member of NC Employee Ownership Center (NCEOC). She loves being with her family and, when she has time, she likes to play the fiddle.