She was frustrated by the sexism she witnessed at work, including training men who would then take promotions to positions above her and assisting her female coworkers with filing sex discrimination lawsuits.
[1] In 1973, Ciarrochi co-chaired the NOW Media Project, which challenged the Federal Communications Commission license renewals of the three Philadelphia network affiliates on the basis of discriminatory coverage and treatment of employees.
[4][5]: 166 This project led the charge to inspire television stations to hire more women as producers and on-air talent and to follow the organization's guidelines on non-sexist language.
[4] The organization was alerted in 1973 when Lisa Richette, a judge for the Court of the Common Pleas, was invited to give a speech at the Union League of Philadelphia but was forced to enter the club through the back door as the result of her gender.
Ciarrochi and other members of the Philadelphia chapter of NOW went down to the League at four in the morning to attached a pink bow and a note stating the alleged sexism to the front door of the building.
[1][6] In 1976, Ciarrochi attended the Democratic National Convention in New York where she worked with Eleanor Smeal, Karen DeCrow, Alice Cohan, Jean Conger, Arlie Scott and Gloria Allred to campaign for equal representation for women.
[1] In later years, Ciarrochi provided support for women running for president of the United States, first coordinating events for Patricia Schroeder in 1982[16] and later endorsing Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.