’48 Arizona Women’ honors the states most remarkable women

“48 Arizona Women” recognizes Arizona women who are making an impact in their communities, often with little fanfare. The program began in 2010 as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project.

Based in Scottsdale, the 501(c)(3) organization’s mission is to build stronger communities and transform lives. Every five years, the organization honors statewide professional and non-professional women from diverse backgrounds whose leadership and commitment are contributing to a positive future in Arizona.

This year, they are partnering with the Arizona Historical Society and the America 250 event on March 20. Rosie Rios, America 250 and Connie Robinson, Chair of 48 Women Arizona, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about the organization.

“What really drove our commission, which is all appointed by Congress is to educate, engage, and unite,” Rios said about the goal of America 250. “We have chose to focus on value-based programing that also inspires the next generation of leadership.”

48 Women Arizona decided to collaborate with America 250 to help celebrate the efforts of women in Arizona and how they reflect the lived experiences of women across the United States. These experiences of womanhood often comes with the responsibility of women leading in various ways over several industries.

“Women who, again, are mentoring young girls, changing the lives of the next generation,” Robinson said. “We have programs where we reach rural communities. We have programs where we, again, are STEM programs. We have programs on aerospace.”

Robison added that the goal of 48 Women Arizona remains to change lives through leadership and “by making communities more vibrant”.

America 250 aids this goal through their own programs – ‘America Gives’, ‘America’s Startup’ and ‘America’s Field Trip’. All three programs are implemented across all 50 states, Washington D.C. and the five U.S. territories.

“‘America’s Field Trip’ was one of our first signature programs we did,” Rios said. “It’s a national student competition for grades three through 12 who get to answer the question ‘what does America mean to you?’. In exchange, the winners get to choose from a series of […] experiences most of which have never been offered to the public before. Most are with federal agencies.”