Mallory was an active member of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) Women's Department, acting as a leader in the national church. In that position, she met other national leaders, forming an alliance with Mary McLeod Bethune, who founded the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in 1935 to expand the power of the women's club movement beyond the black elites. In the 1940s and 1950s, the COGIC women worked to integrate their work toward sanctified lives with civic engagement in broader alliances outside their community.