AZ Women’s Hall of Fame: OV advocate inducted

Oro Valley resident Daisy M. Bell Jenkins will be inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame on October 19, recognizing a career that has connected Tucson’s corporate, military and civil rights histories. Jenkins is one of five women selected for the honor, which reflects decades of work advocating for employees, mentoring women and challenging discrimination in the workplace. For Jenkins, the recognition is also tied to the personal journey that brought her to Southern Arizona as an 18 year old military wife and led her into leadership at one of the region’s largest employers.

Jenkins arrived in Tucson from California in 1966, when her husband, an airman, was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Her first experiences in the local workforce exposed her to the barriers facing Black women at the time. She recalled being treated dismissively at the employment office and later, while working as a department store saleswoman, feeling as though she was not seen as a person. She described the experience as being treated like an object that had simply appeared there.

Her early encounters with discrimination did not remain private concerns. While working for the Arizona State Employment Service, Jenkins observed what she believed was unfair treatment of Black and Hispanic people. She responded by writing to a civil rights organization. When her supervisor challenged her for going over his authority, Jenkins answered that someone who discriminates does not have a legitimate claim to being in charge. The episode became an early example of the directness and resolve that would characterize her professional life.

Jenkins’ path then took her away from Arizona as her husband’s military career brought the family to Hawaii. There, she earned both an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in communications from the University of Hawaii. About a decade after leaving Tucson, she returned to the city and accepted what appeared on paper to be a modest position at Hughes Aircraft Company, now Raytheon. Although she had advanced education and experience, she began as a low level clerk.

The decision surprised people around her, but Jenkins had a clear plan. She told colleagues that she would be in management within five years, a prediction some viewed as unrealistic or arrogant. She reached that goal, crediting her determination and her belief that excellence could overcome racism and discrimination. Her rise included promotion to vice president of Human Resources, followed by a role as the company’s first Director of Global Diversity. In the late 1990s, she also earned a law degree from the University of Arizona.

In 2000, Jenkins became Raytheon’s first woman of color to serve as a vice president. Her influence extended beyond her own advancement. Through her corporate positions, she helped create the company’s women’s network and Black employee network. She also advocated for Hispanic employees, queer employees and other minority groups. Those efforts reflected a broader shift in her thinking about success. After reaching senior leadership, Jenkins began asking whether corporate advancement itself was her central purpose or whether her experiences were meant to prepare her to help other people.

That question led to a sustained commitment to advocacy and mentorship. For the past 13 years, Jenkins has operated Daisy Jenkins & Associates, a consulting firm focused on human resources consulting and executive and developmental coaching. Through that work, she has mentored hundreds of women in the corporate world. Her approach has been shaped by the discrimination she encountered early in her career, as well as by the opportunities she later received to influence workplace policy and culture from inside a major company.

Jenkins has said she views her experiences as preparation to advocate for others rather than as achievements meant only for her own benefit. She considers helping people a central reason for her life and work. The Hall of Fame induction, she said, feels like a gift and a blessing, and a measure of how far she has traveled since those early years. She hopes the honor recognizes not only her corporate positions, but also the effect of her advocacy on Arizona communities.

For Tucson and Oro Valley, Jenkins’ story is rooted in local institutions and in the changing opportunities available to women and people of color in the workplace. Her career began with difficult encounters in Tucson, developed through education and military life elsewhere, and returned to the community through leadership at Hughes Aircraft and Raytheon, university study and years of mentoring. Her induction on October 19 will place that full journey in the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame, alongside four other women, and highlight a legacy built around opening doors for those who followed.