Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission · 50th Anniversary · 1976–2026
Speaker Script — the 50-Year Data Presentation
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Speaker Script & Guideline

50 Years of Women in Pima County — the Data Presentation

Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission · 50th Anniversary · August 26, 2026 · YWCA Tucson
23 slides · 6–7 minutes · one presenter

How to use this script

This is a guideline, not a teleprompter — speak to the slides in your own voice. Each block gives you the slide, the one line that must land, and a transition into the next. Advance with the → arrow key (or click the right side of the screen). Press F for fullscreen before you start. Read straight through, the words below run about six minutes; with natural pauses, plan on six to seven. Golden rule: every number on screen is shown in comparison — never let a figure sit alone. Always say what it’s bigger or smaller than.

1 · Title

Say: “Good evening — and happy Women’s Equality Day. For fifty years, the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission has asked one question: how are the women of this county actually doing? Tonight we answer it with data — and every number you’ll see is measured against Arizona, against the nation, and against the other fourteen counties in our state. Because a number by itself means nothing. A number in context tells the truth.” Transition: “So — who are we?”

2 · Women of Pima County — Pima in the Arizona field

Lands: Pima is the clear #2 county in Arizona — far behind Maricopa, far ahead of the other thirteen. Say: “This is every county in Arizona over fifty years, and that bold line is us. We’ve tripled in size since 1976. Second of fifteen: more than a million people, roughly 530,000 of them women and girls. Big enough to matter statewide, small enough to be overlooked next to Phoenix.” Transition: “And we don’t look like the rest of Arizona.”

3 · Who we are + Age

Lands: Pima is older and more Latina than the state or nation. Say: “More than a third of us are Hispanic or Latina — well above the U.S. And we’re older: nearly one in four residents is 65-plus, far more than Arizona or the country. A commission for these women has to plan for both ends of that spectrum.” Transition: “Let’s start where it hits hardest — the wallet.”

4–6 · Economic Equity & Pay (three slides)

Lands: Nationally the pay gap has closed by half in 50 years — but Pima starts from a lower base than anywhere we measure against. Say: “(4) Nationally, women went from 59 cents on the dollar to 81. Real progress. But look right: our labor-force participation, our incomes, our business ownership all sit below Arizona and below the U.S. (5) Among Arizona’s fifteen counties, our median income ranks fifth. (6) And against peer metros — Phoenix, Houston, Chicago, Nashville, Oakland, Manhattan — we are the lowest-income of them all. Our gap isn’t only gender. It’s regional.” Transition: “Now the brightest spot we have.”

7–8 · Girls’ Leadership & Education (two slides)

Lands: Education is Pima’s strength — #2 in Arizona for women’s degree attainment. Say: “(7) Women are now sixty percent of America’s college graduates — a complete reversal from 1976. (8) And here we shine: Pima ranks second of fifteen Arizona counties for women’s bachelor’s attainment, ahead of Maricopa. Against the big metros we hold our own. So the challenge shifts — from getting women credentialed to getting them paid what that education is worth.” Transition: “Now the hardest part of the story.”

9–10 · Safety & Domestic Violence (two slides)

Lands: Intimate-partner violence is down ~63% nationally — but the local scale is still a daily emergency. Say: “(9) Since 1993, intimate-partner violence against women fell by nearly two-thirds nationally. Prevention works. (10) But here at home, our agencies field roughly fifteen thousand domestic-violence calls a year — about twenty-six every day. Pima has the worst intimate-partner firearm homicide rate in Arizona — and one in three of these deaths is not a gun at all. Down sharply, and still far too high, are both true.” Transition: “And when the system does respond, women are the fastest-growing group inside it.”

11 · Justice & Incarceration

Lands: Women are the fastest-growing group in the justice system — and most are un-convicted mothers. Say: “Since 1980, the number of incarcerated women grew about six hundred percent — faster than men. In Arizona, twentyfold. Most women in jail haven’t been convicted of anything, and roughly eighty percent are mothers. This is a women’s issue, and a children’s issue.” Transition: “Which brings us home — literally.”

12–14 · Childcare & Housing Security (three slides)

Lands: A real win — Pima posts the highest homeownership of any peer metro — beside a real gap: young women and single mothers. Say: “(12) Single-mother families face poverty at twice the overall rate, and Pima’s poverty and rent burden run above Arizona and the U.S. (13) Among the fifteen counties we sit fifth-highest in poverty. (14) And yet here’s a genuine victory: Pima posts the highest homeownership of any peer metro. The catch: our young women 18-to-24 are the single largest group in poverty in Tucson. Housing is where a young woman climbs — or stalls.” Transition: “Health follows the same pattern — good access, harder outcomes.”

15–17 · Healthcare & Wellness (three slides)

Lands: Good inputs, middling outcomes — Pima gets women in the door, but the system doesn’t always carry them through. Say: “(15) Maternal mortality in the U.S. has risen, and Arizona runs worse than the nation. (16) Our teen birth rate beats the state and our mammography rates match the nation. (17) We’re third-best in Arizona for insurance coverage. So we get women in the door — the work is carrying them safely through pregnancy and the year after.” Transition: “The good news? We know how to change all of this — at the ballot box and at the table.”

18–19 · Civic Representation (two slides)

Lands: Arizona leads the nation — women hold nearly half the legislature — and the nearest open seats are on this Commission. Say: “(18) Women went from eight percent of state legislators in 1975 to a third today — and Arizona is near the very top: women hold close to half our legislature. (19) So the nearest gap isn’t capacity — it’s the open seats on this very Commission. Look at that gauge. Those seats are yours.” Transition: “And who actually turns out to vote?”

20 · The Women’s Vote — by demographic

Lands: The groups that turn out least — young and Latina — are exactly the groups growing fastest here. Say: “Turnout climbs with age and varies by background. The two groups that vote least — our youngest women and Latina voters — are precisely the ones growing fastest in Pima. Every point of turnout we close is disproportionately our story.” Transition: “And at the very top of the economy?”

21 · Power & Capital

Lands: The top is still far off — women are the majority of graduates and a small minority of the capital. Say: “Women earn most of the degrees — and hold about one in ten Fortune 500 CEO seats, get roughly two cents of every venture dollar, and hold about a third of the wealth men do. Education got us in the building. Capital is the next fifty years.” Transition: “None of tonight’s progress happened by accident.”

22 · Landmark Laws

Lands: Every trend line rests on a law — and those gains are recent and reversible. Say: “Behind every line tonight is a law. Equal credit for women is barely fifty years old. The Violence Against Women Act has needed renewing three times. Progress is written in policy — and it can be un-written.”

23 · Close

Lands: From anecdote to evidence — the case, and the call, for the next fifty years. Say: “So here’s where Pima stands: second in the state, second to none in educating our women, the highest homeownership of any peer metro — but the lowest-income, and carrying our youngest women in poverty. For fifty years this Commission turned anecdote into evidence. Tonight is the evidence. The next fifty years are the call. Thank you — and happy 50th, Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission.”

Delivery notes