Ann Mulholland
Chapter Director, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Ann Mulholland Director of The Nature Conservancy's Minnesota-North Dakota-South Dakota chapter. © Nancy Johnson
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Leadership, Operations Management, Government Relations, Marketing & Communications
Biography
Chapter Director in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, Ann Mulholland, leads a team of scientists, fundraisers, conservation practitioners and policy experts who are tackling some of the greatest challenges facing people and nature. Mulholland rejoined The Nature Conservancy in 2020 after serving as the chapter's Board Chair, Executive Vice President of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Deputy Mayor for the City of Saint Paul and Marketing Director for The Nature Conservancy’s central division.
Ann brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to TNC in public policy, community engagement and strategic communications. Her goals for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota include protecting water resources, unlocking our states’ climate mitigation potential by bringing natural climate solutions to scale and advancing the chapter’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
When not at work, Ann serves on several community boards and initiatives including the Minnesota Wild Foundation, the Itasca Project working team and the Governor's Advisory Council on Climate Change. She also enjoys birding, spending time with her four daughters and enjoying nature with her dog, Heddi.
Press Release
TNC on MN Climate Action Framework: We're Ready.
Minnesota state leaders have taken an important step forward by releasing the Climate Action Framework, a comprehensive game plan for how the state can mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The Nature Conservancy is committed to helping conserve, protect or restore 30% of the world’s lands and waters and removing or sequestering 3 billion metric tons of carbon by 2030. Our work in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota is aligned with that audacious goal.
Our Priorities
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Protect Land & Water
Our local chapter has helped conserve more than 900,000 acres across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Protecting our grasslands, forests and waters, we're taking action to shape a better future for people and the planet.
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Tackle Climate Change
The impacts of climate change include more extreme weather and natural disasters, drought and economic instability. To match the urgency of this crisis, we're deploying innovative solutions that maximize nature's ability to fight climate change.
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Provide Food & Water Sustainably
Food is sustainable when it benefits the environment and maintains soil fertility. We’re fostering innovations in technology, collaborating with communities to use resources more efficiently and promoting policies that enable sustainability.
Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota make up a diverse, beautiful and threatened region. Get to know our tristate chapter and the people who make our conservation happen across these three states. Learn more.
MN-ND-SD Chapter Director DEIJ Statement
Updated April 2021
The Nature Conservancy's mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. To accomplish this bold mission, we must recognize and intentionally include people who have historically been left out, ignored and openly discriminated against. We know that there are incredible inequities both across the globe and right here at home in access to the benefits that nature provides. When our natural world is out of balance, it is communities of color, low-income neighborhoods and Indigenous people that disproportionately suffer. The Nature Conservancy believes that the work of protecting nature must be inclusive and benefit all. We are committed to promoting and championing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) in our workforce and the communities we serve.
As the Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota Chapter has worked to address DEIJ in our organization, it has raised our awareness—as with much of the world—to the oppression and violence directed at marginalized members of our communities. Recent and ongoing events have added more tragic proof and urgency to the need to invest in and actively advocate for change. We cannot achieve our goals as an organization without addressing the intersections of conservation, racial and social justice. As a Chapter, we are listening deeply, reflecting on our work and working to incorporate DEIJ values, both internally with our teams, processes and policies, and externally in the way we approach our programs and partnerships. We have a dedicated group of staff working to implement learning opportunities, sharing resources and coordinating staff-wide training to ensure the outcomes of our work, and the way we work, are just, equitable and inclusive.
True, meaningful change does not happen overnight, and we acknowledge that is frustrating given the urgency of our inequities. Just as we know the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the best time to confront the historical inequities of conservation is long past. However, we also know that the next best time to plant a tree is right now. To that end, we are firmly recommitting to the ongoing work required to build a truly diverse, equitable, inclusive and just organization.
To read more about The Nature Conservancy's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, visit our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page or review our organizational values. We will continue to share updates on our activities and learning.
Ann Mulholland
Chapter Director
The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota
Ann in the News
In a time of budget surplus, lawmakers should not overlook a natural solution to climate change
State spending on the environment has been chronically underfunded for decades, with less than 3% of the state budget going to the environment.
U.S. regains climate cred. How about Minnesota?
Congress may have reasserted its credibility on climate, but state leaders can't yet say the same. Now Minnesota needs to build on this progress.
Minnesota lake ice shrinking as climate change warms winters
Ann shares how solutions like planting trees, cover cropping and preservation of peatlands, prairies and forests can help in the climate fight.
Natural areas and working lands are key to Minnesota’s future
We need natural climate solutions—and investing in family farmers, forest managers and others—to be a priority for the Legislature.