Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud joined Bayou City Waterkeeper in June 2021. She brings over twenty years in nonprofit administration, leading programs and building infrastructure at environmental and cultural institutions. She recently worked at Houston Botanic Garden as director of education and public programs, overseeing the launch of the organization’s first-ever educational offerings including virtual lectures and tours, a community garden, classes, a docent program, school programs, and a summer camp. In addition to program development, Ayanna brings experience in capacity building, development, and fundraising at institutions including University of Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Project Row Houses. Ayanna studied Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Building on her background in arts, Ayanna uses creative thinking in advocating for and connecting with the environment.

A native Houstonian, she is also an interdisciplinary artist and makes art and writes about nature, diaspora and equity. She and her family enjoy her subwatershed, Braes Bayou along with other water bodies throughout Greater Houston and the habitat that they support.

You can reach her at ayanna@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org.

Kristen Schlemmer joined Bayou City Waterkeeper in July 2018 and works to advance water, climate, and infrastructure justice across our watershed. A lawyer licensed in Texas, she represents the organization in federal court and state administrative proceedings, uses the law as a tool to strengthen our broader programmatic work, coordinates our legal and scientific experts and team of interns and fellows, and serves as a resource for local communities, our non-profit partners, governmental leaders, and media.

Kristen went to UT-Austin for undergrad and graduated from Tulane Law in New Orleans. She clerked for two federal judges at the district and appeals court levels before returning to her hometown to work at Susman Godfrey, where she learned to try cases to a jury and argued countless motions. Kristen transitioned into public interest environmental law at Irvine & Conner, a small local land use and environmental boutique, before joining Bayou City Waterkeeper.

Kristen grew up playing in the forested wetlands and drainage ditches of Kingwood in northeast Harris County after spending her early childhood on the beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She speaks imperfect Spanish with a Brazilian accent, is a Texas Gulf Coast Master Naturalist, serves on the local board of New Leaders Council, a national organization dedicated to dismantling racism and social injustices by training a new generation of local leaders, and regularly participates in local creative writing workshops. Kristen and her family live a short walk from Buffalo Bayou.

You can reach her at kristen@bayoucitywaterkeeper.org

Kelley joins Bayou City Waterkeeper with experience working in governmental, nonprofit, and private sectors of the law. While she was an undergraduate student at Emory University, she studied abroad through wildlife field studies programs in Australia, Namibia, and Botswana. She later graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in Environmental Science. Most recently, she received her Juris Doctor degree from Emory University School of Law, where she studied environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act. With Bayou City Waterkeeper, Kelley works to pursue legal avenues to promote conservation and secure environmental justice.