In 2011, our organization embarked on a robust capital campaign to provide more girls the opportunity to experience the power of Girl Scouting—the Campaign for Girls in Arizona. Our primary goal was to transform our 14.5-acre property in South Phoenix, formerly known as Camp Sombrero, into an $18 million urban camp and program center now known as The Bob & Renee Parsons Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain.

With the help of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation, countless corporations, foundations, individuals, community members, board members, a skilled staff and our very own girl members and volunteers, we raised $18 million over the course of 5 years to support this initiative. 

“When you invest in a girl/woman, you invest in a 
family, a community, and ultimately the nation.”   
– Kathy Cloninger, former GSUSA CEO

Bob & Renee Parsons Leadership Center

for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain

Fast forward to today and The Parsons Leadership Center opened in April 2017 and is offering enhanced programming and outdoor experiences for girls, volunteer trainings, summer camp in three different formats, meeting spaces for outside organizations and events, office space for 30+ staff members, the new home of our Girl Scout retail location, and much more. 

This large-scale renovation project has enhanced the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls in Arizona— creating a vibrant community facility devoted to girls’ leadership development. This new space provides hands on, experiential learning experiences for girls in our four focus areas—STEM, outdoors, entrepreneurship, and life skills— to the over 20,000 girls we serve and the 10,000 volunteers who support them, not to mention the facilitation of partnerships with surrounding community groups, local organizations and schools.

We welcome over 10,000 girls and volunteers to the site annually.

Visit our YouTube channel to experience the journey our Council took to build a state-of-the art facility for girls!