Of the many goals that Mahoney had hoped of achieving, One of them was to change the way patients and families thought of minority nurses. Mahoney wanted to abolish any discrimination in the nursing field. Being African American in a predominantly white society, she often experienced discrimination as an African American woman. In Massachusetts particularly, it was difficult for African American nurses to find work following graduation due to the limitations of either working in African American homes or working in white homes that already had African American employees in household work. She believed that all people should have the opportunity to chase their dreams without racial discrimination. It is said that Fredrick Douglass, a prominent African American abolitionist and ex-slave of the time, was distantly related to Mahoney, which became one of the influences on her active participation against the repercussions of slavery and racial discrimination against minorities in the United States.