Arizona Highways (July 2026)

Among the things we love most about Arizona are the people. Around the state, ordinary people are doing extraordinary things. Here are just 10 of them — people doing interesting and innovative work that’s making a difference in their communities. Without exception, they resist taking credit, insisting that their accomplishments result from the work of many hands. And while that’s true, it’s also true that these 10 people have the kind of vision that makes others want to get behind their plans and ideas. They are leaders who inspire us to make Arizona a better place.

OLIVIA WOODS
BLAZING TRAILS
Olivia Woods decided she wanted to work outdoors after a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. She started volunteering with the Arizona Trail Association, and it wasn’t long before she took a job with the organization, coordinating work for groups of volunteers.

Taking courses on sustainable trail work eventually led to her current job building trails for Flagline Trails, which does a lot of work on the Arizona Trail. A certified sawyer, Woods travels all over the state, camping for eight days at a time and working on trails from the North Rim to the Santa Rita Mountains.

The work is important, she says, because it creates space for people to experience the outdoors safely while protecting the environment. “The trail is a little sacrificial space that we disturb so that more of it is protected,” she says.

Woods still volunteers for the ATA, serving as a trail steward for a stretch in the Superstition Mountains. She loves the work and wants to see it promoted as a career option. “Not all kids want to grow up and be a doctor or a lawyer,” she says. “When I was in high school, I knew nothing about any of this.”

 

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