For Immediate Release: 3/11/2024 1:37 pm
WORCESTER, Mass. – The City of Worcester Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (ACSW) presented the 2024 Woman, Young Woman of Consequence Awards last week. This year’s theme was “Trailblazing Through Mentorship.”
The 2024 Woman of Consequence Award was presented to Jermoh Kamara, co-founder and president of the Massachusetts Organization of African Descendants (MOAD). MOAD is a coalition of volunteer members from diverse African nations living in Worcester, including African businesses, restaurants, churches, and individuals organized to address systemic socioeconomic issues impacting the African community.
Through her role with MOAD, Kamara also served on the Worcester Black Families Together board. As of Feb. 15, 2024, Kamara was nominated to serve on the City of Worcester’s Advisory Commission on African American and Black Affairs.
Kamara is a public health professional and former Worcester School Committee member. Her passion for school-based health began when she founded the Hawah V. Kamara Children’s Foundation (HVK) non-profit, which works in school-based health and partners with seven schools in Liberia. In her former role as the Director of Wellness and Health Equity at the YWCA, Kamara served on the Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester Steering Committee and was the co-chair of the Policy and Advocacy sub-committee.
The 2024 Young Woman of Consequence Award was presented to Worcester Public Schools student Anahit Marutyan. She is a junior at Claremont Academy, where she participates in the Early College Program. Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, Marutyan moved to the United States in 2021.
She is a part of the University of Southern California’s Shoah Foundation’s William Lauder Internship Program, which provides a dynamic and unique learning opportunity to engage with personal stories from survivors and witnesses of genocide. Marutyan connected with this opportunity on a personal level as the great-granddaughter of an Armenian Genocide survivor and the daughter of a Baku pogrom survivor. Previously, she interned for the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, Probate and Family Court.
Marutyan is the co-creator of a social media group called “Ourstrive4change” on Instagram, which focuses on educating and spreading awareness to young folks on racial/social justice issues and climate change. As a student, Marutyan holds various leadership roles including Student Council representative, Climate and Culture Committee member, and Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council member.
The ACSW was created in 1977 to formulate, encourage, promote, and monitor programs and policies relating to the status of women in the City of Worcester. The ACSW promotes community awareness of women’s issues such as sexual exploitation, pay equity, and childcare through forums, recommendations to the City Manager, and public awareness campaigns. Since 1996, the ACSW has highlighted extraordinary women of all ages through the Women of Consequence Awards.
