The Red Cross granted her a scholarship as a pensionada to the United States in 1922 through a recommendation from Josefa Jara Martinez, where she earned a master's degree in Sociology from Columbia University in 1925.

[11] During her free time in the International House, she accepted speaking engagements around the United States to lecture about the Philippines to American audiences with compensation.

[14][15] They had two children: Maria Teresa, who later became the President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines from 1986 to 1994, and Antonio Jr., who became a member of the Associated Press Southeast Asia writing staff.

She was appointed as the field secretary of the Philippine Chapter of the American Red Cross from 1926 to 1929, where she managed civilian relief activities in rural communities and assisted in finding jobs for the unemployed.

[21][22] Helena Z. Benitez was the Chairman of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines Central Committee, while Josefa became the group's first National Executive.

Josefa Llanes Escoda, as the president of the National Federation of Women's Clubs, continued her social work but also supported underground wartime activities against the Japanese.

The Girl Scouts of the Philippines, which went underground, also supported wartime activities by providing funds for social work and relief to prisoners of war in the Bataan Death March.

[26] Josefa also assisted American POWs and civilian internees at the University of Santo Tomas, Cabanatuan, Bongabon, and Los Baños.

If you happen to survive, and I fail, tell our people that the women of the Philippines did their part also in making the ember sparks of truth and liberty alive till the last moment.

The couple intensified their activities of supplying medicine, food, clothes, and messages to both Filipino war prisoners and American internees in concentration camps.

[29] Antonio Escoda was arrested on 10 June 1944 with General Vicente Lim and other Philippine Army officers, who were captured in Mindoro.

[37] Afterward, Corazon C. Aquino declared September 20, 1986, as Josefa Llanes Escoda Day in Ilocos Norte.

[38] On 29 May 1998, President Fidel Ramos declared 1998 as the Josefa Llanes Centennial Year and 20 September 1998 as a Special Day in Ilocos Norte.

[39] The Girl Scouts of the Philippines pay homage to Josefa Llanes Escoda every 20 September by celebrating her birth anniversary with activities that commemorate her contributions to youth development and her martyrdom.