Marcia Manong, A Woman Making A Difference 2021

Congratulations to our 2021 Award Recipients

Women Making A Difference Virtual Event

March 25, 2021 6:30 PM

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“The most fulfilled people are the ones who get up every morning and stand for something larger than themselves. They are the people who care about others, who will extend a helping hand to someone in need or will speak up about an injustice when they see it.” Wilma Mankiller – The first female chief of the Cherokee Nation

Marcia Manong
Community Organizer and Activist


Ms. Marcia Manong’s first participation in civic action occurred in Holly Springs, Mississippi during the summer of 1964, when as a high school student, she volunteered in theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) voter registration campaign efforts.  This experience sparked her passion for social justice.  
As a social worker at the Dimock Street Preschool in Roxbury, MA, Ms. Manong produced a documentary about the school and how it successfully integrated children who were abled bodied and children who were physically disabled in a regular classroom (which at that time was not happening in Massachusetts classrooms), this film led her to complete a Master of Arts degree at Goddard College, VT in 1977.  


Marcia became a part of the anti-apartheid and divestment movement in Boston during the 80’s and when she moved to South Africa in 1994, she again became directly engaged in social justice as the Regional Manager for a non-profit called Operation Hunger that assisted rural communities in combating food insecurity through communal cultivation. This work led to other major leadership positions, including an appointment with the Board of the National Development Agency and to serving as a National Mediation Panelist addressing conflicts between white farm owners and farm workers of color. As the Director of the Association for Community and Rural Advancement (AnCRA) a non-profit that assisted communities to regain access to land they had lost under the apartheid government, she worked to ensured that rural women became landowners too.  


Upon returning to Malden, MA, Ms. Manong continues her civic engagement having contributed as a citizen journalist with Neighborhood View and as a board member of UMA formally Malden Access Television (MATV). She is currently a member of Malden’s Community Organizing for Racial Equity (MaldenCORE), Friends of the Malden River, Mass Senior Action Council, Chairperson of the Malden River Works Steering Committee, and a newly appointed board member of Mystic River Watershed Association. Ms. Manong presently works as an Office Manager at Bread of Life in Malden, which organizes and provides community food services to Malden and numerous surrounding cities.

“Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect.”
Wangari Maathai – Renowned Kenyan social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize