Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission 50th Anniversary Celebration Sells Out! Full Program to Be Broadcast Live So the Whole Community Can Take Part
- lucy77714
- Aug 26
- 5 min read
PIMA COUNTY/TUCSON WOMEN’S COMMISSION
50th Anniversary · 1976–2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE · August 26, 2026
Media Contact: Kimberly K. Fitch, CPM | Pima County/Tucson Women's Commission, Chair kfitch@nicolosifitch.com> · (520) 975-5665
Women’s Equality Day celebration will stream on YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook, and be preserved as a permanent record of the Commission’s first fifty years.
TUCSON, Ariz. — August 24, 2026 — The Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission (PCTWC) announced today that its 50th Anniversary Celebration, set for Wednesday, August 26, 2026 — Women’s Equality Day — at YWCA Tucson, 525 N. Bonita Avenue, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., is nearing capacity. Because the milestone belongs to the whole community, the Commission will broadcast the full program live so that everyone — in the room or not — can take part.
The broadcast will be carried simultaneously on:
The program begins at 6:00 p.m. (Arizona time); the stream will open shortly before. A recording will remain available on the same channels afterward, creating a permanent public record of the Commission’s 50th year — a first for a body whose earlier decades survive mostly in paper files.
“Fifty years of the Pima County/Tucson Women's Commission's work has been about making women and girls visible. It would be wrong to commemorate this milestone in such a limited fashion to restrict for only an in-person experience. Broadcasting LIVE means a girl in Ajo, a former commissioner in another state, and the next generation of women who would serve on this Commission can all be in the room with us — and that this night will be there for all of us long after the event is over.” - Kimberly K. Fitch, PCTWC, Chair
The live production is being provided as an in-kind gift to the Commission by the Force for Health® Network, a Tucson-based community health and media platform founded by Commissioner Lucy Howell, whose My Girl Power Club began under the Commission’s fiscal sponsorship more than a decade ago. The Commission is grateful for a contribution that meets a real need and reflects a shared commitment to the health, voice and leadership of women and girls.
"It's my humble honor to play such a small role in such a significntmilestone for an organization that really truly helped shape the women I am today...and I am so happy to especially be helping to honor Alison Hughes, who played such an instrumental role of mentee and 'she-ro' to me as part of the journey" - Lucy Howell, PCTWC, Commissioner
A program spanning five decades of leadership
Chair Kim Fitch will host the evening. Confirmed speakers include Supervisor Jen Allen, Chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors; Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, who together with Supervisor Allen will present a joint City–County proclamation; and Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, who served on the Commission in its early years. Tucson City Councilmembers and representatives of the Office of Governor Katie Hobbs and the Board of Supervisors will also be recognized, and the Commission’s culinary partners from Tucson City of Gastronomy will be introduced from the podium.
The keynote will be delivered by Alison M. Hughes, the Commission’s first Executive Director in 1976. The evening also includes a 50-year retrospective presentation prepared by the Commission’s Presentation Committee and a tribute to the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame and its most recent honorees.
PCTWC Treasurer, Molly Ring, has a special ask with a call to the community to help shape the Commission’s next fifty years and Chair Kimberly Fitch will close out, with the challenge and callt o propel forward with newly activted strength, fortitude and gratitude for those who paved the way befire us.
Honoring the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame
The Commission’s history and the Hall’s are intertwined. The Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame was established in 1980 by the Arizona Women’s Commission, the Tucson Women’s Commission (as this Commission was then known) and the office of Governor Bruce Babbitt — making Arizona only the fourth state in the nation with a women’s hall of fame. Today it operates as an independent nonprofit whose mission is to honor, celebrate and preserve the stories of exceptional women who have contributed to the development and quality of life in Arizona.
Partnering with the PCTWC as they celebrated their 50th, represented perfect way to celebrate the efforts and legacy from women throughout the state, here in Southern Arizona and to to celebrate the five women who will be inducted in the 2026 Arizona Women's Hall of Fame:
Contemporary
Alison Marshall Hughes, Tucson
Daisy BellJenkins, Oro Valley
Paula Diangreco Cullison, Phoenix
Legacy
Dr. Laura Noble Banks Reed, Tucson
May Hicks Curtis Hill, Flagstaff
Arizonans will be introduced to this year's inducteea, who will be officially inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame on October 19, 2026 a the Western Spirit Museum (details to follow) and also learn how to nominate a woman for a future class, at azwhf.org.
Guests in the room will enjoy a tasting menu created by four of Tucson’s acclaimed women chefs — Shuka Parker (Shuka Sweets), Angela Garcia (Chula’s Cocina), and Susan Fulton and Mary Steiger (Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro) — in partnership with Tucson City of Gastronomy, steward of Tucson’s designation as the first UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the United States.
Fifty years — and the next fifty
The Tucson City Council approved the creation of a Women’s Commission in 1975; the first meeting was held in 1976, and in 1992 the body expanded to serve all of Pima County. For fifty years the Commission has advised the Mayor and Council and the Pima County Board of Supervisors on the issues that shape women’s lives — safety, economic equity, health and wellness, girls’ leadership, and women’s representation in public life.
The Commission enters its next fifty years at nearly full strength. Its three remaining vacancies are expected to be filled this fall, and the Commission is working with its City Council and County appointing offices to complete the full 20-member body by year’s end. Community members who want to support the work — with a gift, by serving, or by attending a meeting, all of which are open to the public — can learn more at pctwc.org.
Again, here are the view links, sponsored by the Force for Health® Network:
About the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission
The Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission works to advance equity and equality for women and girls by advising local government, fostering leadership, promoting wellness, and connecting our community to vital resources and support. Its vision is a Tucson and Pima County where every woman and girl has the safety, opportunity, and empowerment she deserves — for herself, her family, and her community. The Pima County/Tucson Women's Commission is also a 501(c)(3) non-profitpublic charity, EIN 86-0708408. We welcome your support.
240 N. Court Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701 · (520) 975-5665 · pctwc.org
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