Since graduating from Khoury College, Molly White has continued to pursue her two passions: programming and promoting accuracy in online platforms. In short order, she has proven herself a leader in both areas.

White graduated from Khoury College in 2016 with a bachelor’s in computer science. During her time at Khoury, she had two internships at HubSpot, a marketing software company, which led to a six-year stint there as software developer.

“Northeastern was where I really discovered my love for software engineering,” explained White. “I started college in the engineering school at Northeastern, thinking I might go into electrical engineering, but it was through classes and co-ops at Northeastern that I realized how much I loved writing software.”

“I also ultimately met a group of close friends at Northeastern who loved coding just for the fun of it,” continued White. “They loved the same kinds of weird and fun projects that I did. Hacking on my personal projects with them was pretty formative.” White was a member of NUHacks and helped to organize the Hack Beanpot.

White’s interest on online editing and content accuracy started long before she arrived at Northeastern. White began editing Wikipedia at the age of 13, and something she is still doing today some fifteen years later. In fact, she is one of Wikipedia’s most active female editors. While still in high school, she became a site administrator and has written on a range of topics from her favorite bands to women scientists to right-wing extremism. According to her Wikipedia page, she has made more than 100,000 edits as of early 2022. She states on Wikipedia that “this work fulfills her interest in validating information online and her belief that spreading information produces societal change.”

White is now among the most prominent and knowledgeable critics of the crypto and Web3 industries, according to industry experts. She has lectured on the topic, counseled senators on legislation, and is interviewed regularly on news sites and podcasts.

White believes that crypto has exacerbated wealth and access inequalities, giving power and control to a small number of investors, many of whom are already influential in shaping the web landscape, according to 2022 Financial Times article. White believes that federal regulation is urgently needed in the industry; she along with 25 other leading technologists encouraged congressional leaders to pass legislation that would result in crypto currency being regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Northeastern was where I really discovered my love for software engineering. I started college in the engineering school at Northeastern, thinking I might go into electrical engineering, but it was through classes and co-ops at Northeastern that I realized how much I loved writing software

White is the editor of the website, Web3 is Going Just Great, a site that explores cases of crypto malfeasance, documenting cases where often unsuspecting investors are duped by false claims.

This spring, she left HubSpot and is currently on a fellowship at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab and is an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. The fellowship has given her focused time to work on her research and writing.

After the fellowship is over, what’s next for White? That’s a question she is currently exploring. “When I do return to software, I will probably also try to figure out how I can sustainably work in the kinds of research and writing I enjoy doing on the side, without having to only pack it in around the edges of a full-time software career.”