After finishing her education, Mary Lanwi started teaching in mission schools, beginning with her alma mater on Kosrae, becoming "perhaps the first Marshallese woman to begin employment outside the home," although this work was unpaid due to the missions' rules against compensating female staff. She subsequently taught at the Rongrong Christian School from 1945 to 1948. In 1974, Lanwi was
elected as the only female delegate to the Micronesian Constitutional Convention, representing
Ebon Atoll. Ahead of the
Alele Museum's opening in the early 1980s, she served on its founding board, described an "instrumental" in its creation. Other prominent roles in this period included on the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands' Planning Council and Private Industry Council. == Later years ==