What is Arizona Town Hall?

Arizona Town Hall is a private, nonprofit civic organization created in 1962 to establish, through research and discussion, an ever-increasing body of Arizona citizens accustomed to the processes of searching analysis and well-informed on the many facets of the state's economic, cultural and social life.

The Town Hall is governed by a 62 member board of directors, representing a composite of leadership from Arizona's 15 counties and from approximately 20 diverse occupations and interests. Board members are elected to two-year staggered terms. There are currently over 1,500 Town Hall members throughout the state.

How to participate

Twice each year, the Arizona Town Hall brings together a wide cross-section of approximately 150 prominent Arizona citizens to consider and discuss a topic of major concern to Arizona's future. Since the very specific Town Hall process cannot encompass all of Arizona's more than 6 million citizens at one time, individuals are nominated for invitation to each session by Board members.

If you are interested in taking part, you should either contact a Board member, expressing interest, or send a resumé to the Town Hall office for consideration. The 150 invitees are considered from among more than 2,000 recommendations for each session.

Emphasis is given to invite those individuals who are very active in their communities and have the greatest opportunities to disseminate information shared during the Town Hall discussions, as well as to help assure that the Town Hall recommendations are enacted.

The Town Hall process

Topics generally are chosen a year in advance, using input from an annual poll of the statewide Town Hall membership. One of the state's three public universities then develops a comprehensive research document on the subject. This important contribution by the universities plays a strategic role in the development of each Town Hall.

The Town Halls follow a carefully developed process. The background research is sent to invitees well in advance of each three-day conference. Those Town Hall participants then meet in small groups for four sessions over a two-day period, all groups using the same discussion questions. On the third day, at the close of these informal, no-holds-barred discussion sessions, participants meet in plenary session to adopt a final report of findings and recommendations. That official report is then bound with the research and distributed to Town Hall members, all members of Arizona's Legislature and other elected officials, public libraries and is available to the general public.

Enactment of Town Hall findings is not a primary purpose of the organization. Even so, the Town Hall recommendations have spread across Arizona in all directions. Many of the topics discussed at the Town Halls have been on political agendas for a long time, but the opportunity that a Town Hall provides to discuss without pressure or rancor brings about a heightened level of understanding and responsibility among our state's citizens.

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The Arizona Town Hall is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit, civic organization, and 100% of your voluntary contribution is tax deductible. Every contribution helps Arizona Town Hall continue to serve as a catalyst for innovative thinking and consensus-based solutions.