Katie Jill Herchenroeder

An Intersectional Organization Dedicated to Empowering Women at CCNY

Previously published in The Campus

As a commuter school, the administration at The City College of New York is always searching for ways to get students involved. Lucky for them, there is a new club on the block.

Women of Resilience Tenacity and Humility, or W.O.R.T.H, is a club dedicated to “unlocking leadership potential” and “fostering academic achievement,” according to their president, Aeriell Mansell.

Mansell, a senior majoring in psychology, founded the CCNY chapter earlier this calendar year, along with Gabriela Donofrio (Vice President), Debra Chan (Treasurer), and Marlena Osei (Secretary). These young women are ceaselessly passionate about W.O.R.T.H and all that it represents.

W.O.R.T.H at CCNY is the second chapter of this organization, with the first being located at Stevenson University in Maryland. The Stevenson chapter was founded by Aeriell’s good friends, Daja Nasib, Aleesia Medina, DeJonna Farrar, and Taraya Pettaway.

The founders of the CCNY chapter hope to empower women through a three pathway program consisting of: Success (leadership, professional development, academic achievement), Service (community service), and Sisterhood (building a community although not necessarily of women only).

The founders themselves are feminists and note that a club such as theirs would not be existent without the strides of feminism. With that said, they are incredibly aware that feminism is not only comprised of cis white females.

President Mansell shares that, although the main goal is to empower women, “the members of the club need not identify as women. Men can empower women too!” She further notes that they will “not deny membership to anyone on the basis of gender, race, academic performance, etc.”

“I would like to note that I don’t think it’s enough to say we are advocates or feminism. We are advocates for an intersectional, trans-inclusive feminism,” Mansell expresses.

Despite the major advances by strong women in the past few decades, women empowerment is still vastly disavowed in societies around the world. The United States is, unfortunately, no exception. W.O.R.T.H is on the side of equality in this fight.

When discussing the current state of the nation, Aeriell voices, “in a time where so many individuals are being stripped of their rights, I hope that W.O.R.T.H. will help students realize their potential and their place in the world, and that no one can take that away from them.”

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