Jorge, currently serving as Board Secretary, joined the board in 2019. As Project Manager for Harris County Precinct 2, he lives in the Near Northside and utilizes his e-bike and public transit to move around town. Prior to joining BCWK, Jorge was founding member of the Houston Department of Transformation.
Our Team
Jordan Macha
Executive Director & Waterkeeper
Jordan Macha is the Executive Director and your Bayou City Waterkeeper. A Houston native, Jordan advocates for healthy waters throughout the Galveston Bay watershed, working on wetland protection and urban water management, promoting nature-based systems, and supporting community efforts to improve water quality.
Prior to joining Bayou City Waterkeeper, Jordan advanced coastal restoration and clean energy priorities across the Gulf region while working for the Gulf Restoration Network and the Sierra Club. She received her Master’s of Public Administration with an emphasis on Urban & Coastal Water Management and Policy from Texas State University, and graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN with degrees in Russian and Political Science.
Jordan currently serves as the Harris County representative for the H-GAC Natural Resources Advisory Committee, and is a 2019 fellow for WEA’s Women Environmental Leadership Accelerator Program. Jordan and her husband live near White Oak Bayou, spending their weekends enjoying the bayous and coastal prairies across our region.
You can reach her at: jordan@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org, 713 309 6683 (direct)
Kristen Schlemmer
Legal Director
Kristen Schlemmer joined Bayou City Waterkeeper in July 2018 as its first Legal Director. Drawing on her litigation experience, Kristen works with local communities to protect wetlands, fight for cleaner water, and make their neighborhoods more resilient to flooding and a changing climate.
Before joining Bayou City Waterkeeper, Kristen learned how to try cases at Susman Godfrey, focused on environmental and wildlife law at Irvine & Conner, and clerked for federal judges in Texas and Louisiana. Kristen received a JD from Tulane Law School and BA from UT-Austin and grew up playing in the forest and drainage ditches of Kingwood in Northeast Harris County after spending her early childhood in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Kristen is a Texas Gulf Coast Master Naturalist and member of New Leaders Council’s 2018 class and serves on New Leaders Council’s local board. Kristen and her family live a short walk from Buffalo Bayou in one of Houston’s oldest houses.
You can reach her at kristen@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org,
281 501 9630 (direct)
Naomi Walker
Water Justice Fellow
Naomi joined Bayou City Waterkeeper as its Water Justice Fellow in March 2020. Naomi uses GIS and other analytical tools to root out potential injustices in public infrastructure within our watershed.
Naomi is a graduate student at Texas Southern University pursuing a degree in Urban Planning and Environmental Policy, with a focus on Sustainability and Natural Resources. She has previously worked as an Environmental Research Assistant mapping the nutrient, contaminant, and bacteria levels of Buffalo Bayou. She is passionate about improving environmental injustices that degrade the health of communities and contribute to global climate change, environmental degradation, and food and water insecurity.
You can reach her at naomi @bayoucitywaterkeeper.org
Board of Directors
Sharron Stewart
Sharron, our current Board Chair, began serving on the Board in 2009. She is a coastal advocate and educator based in Lake Jackson, and has worked with many national, state, and local agencies to preserve and protect the coastal environment, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its effort to protect the Columbia Bottoms hardwood forests in Texas.
David Popken
David, an avid sailor and fisherman, serves as Vice Board Chair and Treasurer. He and his wife, Kris, live on Galveston Bay in Seabrook, where he serves as a member of the City of Seabrook’s Open Spaces and Parks Committee, Galveston Bay Cruising Association, Galveston Bay Foundation, and Audubon Society.
Jorge Bustamante
Joe Liggio
Joe joined the board in 2015. After a career working for state agencies and corporations, he utilizes his educational and professional experience to compile and analyze data to assist in our programmatic goals. Joe is the author of Wild Orchids of Texas.
Rachel Powers
Rachel began serving on the board in 2019. A long-time Houstonian, and passionate advocate for clean water and the environment, Rachel currently serves as Executive Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, working to foster dialogue and collaboration on environmental issues.
Jen Powis
Jen currently serves as general counsel to the organization, having joined the board in 2014. As Senior Counsel for the Bolder Advocacy Program at Alliance for Justice, and founder of the Powis Firm, she specializes in environmental advocacy services and provides strategic direction for campaigns and programs for a variety of Gulf Coast nonprofits.
Advisory Board
Phil Beckett • Lindsay Dofelmier • Dr. John Jacob • Martin Hamilton • Vaness Hamilton