Coordinate & Elevate

Build upon the CAZCA foundation to ensure and amplify regional open space collaboration, coordination, management and conservation success.

Current Progress

This goal represents CAZCA’s innovative facilitation of collaboration and strategy sharing among regional partners to address a variety of issues relevant to open space in Central Arizona. We aim to enhance communication, collaborative projects, learning and regional effectiveness among our partners.

10

Active Initiatives

11

Total Initiatives

60+

Number of Partners

Goal 4

Open Space Champions

Patrick Graham

Graham has led The Nature Conservancy in Arizona for 19 years, and in this role has truly changed the landscape for conservation in the entire region. He has built a lasting legacy through innovative ideas and approaches and built partnerships with organizations, government, and both urban and rural communities for the benefit of our unique state. For his many success, he was awarded the 2020 Desert Botanical Garden Conservation Award.

Maxine Lakin

We honored Maxine Lakin in 2019 for more than 50 years of contributions to the conservation of the Sonoran Desert. With the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council (PMPC), she helped pass the Phoenix Parks and Preserves Initiative to protect Sonoran Desert lands, now the Sonoran Preserve. She also helped pass Chapter 26 of the City of Phoenix Charter and is the founder of Save our Mountains Foundation. Finally in 2019, still an active member of PMPC, Lakin worked with the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Director and team to bring what was Camelback Mountain Park into the Phoenix Mountains Preserve.

Tamara Woodbury

In 2018, we honored Tamara Woodbury for her pivotal leadership as the CEO of the Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council; her work has led to the connection of countless young women to nature. It was also under her guidance that the Bob & Renee Parsons Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain was opened to serve the Arizona community in 2017.

Mayor Jackie Meck

The first Desert Botanical Garden Award for Excellence in Conservation was bestowed on Mayor Jackie Meck in 2017 for his visionary leadership in Buckeye, which emphasized the protection of the city’s open spaces for residents, and included his involvement in the formation and management of the White Tank Mountains Conservancy.