Bayou City Waterkeeper welcomes two new members to our Board of Directors! Learn more about the backgrounds and experience below.
Vanessa Toro Barragán (she/they, ella/elle) is a strategist and shaper of change with proven experience facilitating coalitions through obstacles to reach meaningful outcomes. With a deep background in labor and community organizing and expertise as a climate mitigation and resilience planner, Vanessa develops transformative programs, policies, and plans crafted by community priorities. Vanessa is a Senior Program Officer at the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice and implements the organization’s IRA place-based grantmaking approach, which supports ecosystems of climate justice organizations in tapping into the historic influx of federal funds made available by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Justice40 initiative. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Vanessa was raised and resides in Houston and finds deep joy and restoration in water.
Leah Chambers, AICP, RLA (she/her) is a community planner, policy advisor, and community engagement consultant with extensive experience developing action-oriented strategies for projects in the United States and abroad. She brings a depth of knowledge and facilitation deftness to complex city-building projects that require strategic long views and intentional focus. Her blend of expertise in planning, natural systems, community engagement, and public policy provides her with a unique capacity to lead and curate successful solutions that are equitable, resilient, community-driven, and enactable.