Clara Goodwin returned home to advocate for environmental justice in her community after graduating from Washington University School of Law in 2023. She joined Bayou City Waterkeeper in September 2023 as the organization’s first full-time Legal Fellow.

Clara is a lifelong Houstonian and was raised in both a family and a Quaker community with a history of activism rooted in the tenets of community, equality, and pacifism. After earning a degree in theater and music history, this background quickly led Clara to shift her focus to more politically oriented storytelling and direct engagement in local elections and community organizing. Eventually, Clara chose to study environmental and energy law because the series of both industrial and climate-related environmental disasters that punctuated her young adult life, combined with her experience in electoral politics, convinced her of the urgency of the need for a more direct approach to climate justice.

Clara continues to rely on her Quaker values and her love of storytelling to support her vision of a just and sustainable future for the Texas Gulf Coast. Outside of this work, Clara can be found supporting her local theater scene, exploring Houston’s diverse grocery stores, and dancing all night to the best live jazz, blues, bachata, and salsa music she can find.