Pocket Prairie

The Alief Pocket Prairie: Youth & Community Resilience

The Forgotten District Finds Its Voice and Builds Democracy

In the heart of Alief, Houston's "little United Nations," where over 93 languages echo through its streets and gardens, a remarkable transformation began not with politicians or planners, but with students and community leaders who refused to accept that their community's future was written anywhere except in their own hands. This is the story of how youth leadership, environmental justice, and true collaboration converged in one of America's most beautifully diverse communities to create not just pocket prairies but a blueprint for climate resilience that honors every voice.

Alief has long been called the "forgotten district," City Council District F, systematically overlooked despite being home to tens of thousands of immigrants, refugees, and working families. When students learned that Alief, along with Gulfton and Sharpstown, ranked among Houston's most vulnerable neighborhoods to climate change and extreme heat, we took action.

The story truly begins in early 2024 at the Alief Community Garden, seven acres at the corner of Beechnut and Dairy View that ABC13 news called a "little United Nations." Here, Vietnamese gardeners tend rows of Thai basil, purple perilla, and lemongrass. Burmese families cultivate bottle gourds in wooden trellises for traditional soups. Nigerian growers nurture varieties of peppers that connect them to ancestral lands. Pakistani gardeners coax onions and winter melons for curry. Congolese women, barefoot in the soil, tend cabbage and sweet potatoes.

When AliefVotes students sat in community meetings listening to these neighbors share stories of flooding, unbearable summer heat, and lack of green space, they recognized something profound: their community already knew how to be resilient. They just needed support to build the infrastructure that matched their vision. The students, many of them children of immigrants themselves, fluent in the languages and cultural nuances of their neighbors, became the bridge between community wisdom and institutional resources.

Through four meticulously planned, student-led community meetings at the Alief Neighborhood Center in late 2024 and early 2025, young people, in collaboration with the Resilient Cities Network and the National Wildlife Federation, facilitated conversations that honored Alief's magnificent diversity. Student leaders Ninet Flores Miranda and Mia Nguyen stood before their neighbors on February 6, 2025, presenting climate resilience options in accessible language, with interpretation services ensuring every voice could be heard. They explained tree planting, bioswales, rain gardens, and pocket prairies not as technical jargon, but as solutions rooted in community needs. In this process, we would like to thank Jordana Vasquez and Kavyaa Rizal from the Resilient Cities Network, Kate Unger, and Marya Fowler of the National Wildlife Federation, and Dr. Alan Steinberg and the late Ms. Barbara Quattro from the Alief Super Neighborhood Council.

Building Partnerships and Transforming Vision into Action

On March 18, 2025, at the final community meeting, residents voted. It wasn't a simple show of hands. It was democracy in its most valid form. Elders who remembered the 600,000-acre Katy Prairie before urbanization shrank it to 200,000 acres cast votes alongside teenagers born in Houston but dreaming of a greener future. When pocket prairies won overwhelmingly, students didn't just implement a decision. We took action, and it worked.

What followed was a masterclass in youth-led organizing. Students reached out to the National Wildlife Federation, where Kate Unger (Resilience in Schools Coordinator) and Marya Fowler (Director of Education and Outreach) saw something special in these young leaders. Rather than treating them as participants, Kate and Marya became true partners, spending countless hours teaching students everything from prairie ecology to project management.

Through fifteen intensive planning meetings from January through September 2025, students learned that successful environmental projects require both passion and precision. Kate taught them seed dispersal techniques, such as salting instead of dumping, and emphasized the importance of mimicking buffalo feet when tamping soil. Marya walked them through irrigation planning and plant selection for Houston's brutal climate. When students struggled with technical concepts, Kate and Marya trusted these young people to rise to the complexity, and rise they did.

Simultaneously, students were courting the Resilient Cities Network. In their first meeting on July 24, 2024, Program Director Tommy Wan and Executive Director Abby Triño sat with Jordana Vasquez (Senior Manager for Climate Resilience), Kaavya Rizal (Program Coordinator), Nathaniel Echeverria (Finance Lead), Allison Ahern (Resilience Finance Team), and Katrin Bruebach (Director of Programs). R4C didn't impose solutions but instead asked students what Alief needed and how they could support the vision. Over eighteen months of partnership, Kaavya Rizal became the students' champion within R4C, navigating bureaucracy to ensure funding flowed when communities needed it most. Jordana Vasquez worked tirelessly to align R4C's national priorities with Alief's hyperlocal realities. When a second pocket prairie opportunity emerged organically, they didn't balk at the scope change. They found additional funding because they trusted student leadership.

On April 19, 2025, the journey became tangible. Students walked the Alief Community Garden with the support and blessing of Jay and Vanessa Lipscomb from the WOW Project, who had been serving Alief's food-insecure families for years at the historic yellow shipping container. Standing next to the yellow shipping container known as the Maldonado Space, where the WOW Project distributed food every Sunday, they envisioned transformation. Casey Sheek, the Community Garden Manager, joined them, and what could have been a simple site visit became the beginning of a deep partnership.

By May 18, students were on their hands and knees with spray paint and construction flags, mapping irrigation lines alongside Program Director Tommy Wan and volunteer Julian Nguyen. Working from initial sketches and renderings created by student artist Cassidy Wong, an architectural student at UT Austin, they plotted every pathway, every plant bed, every square foot of the 500-750 square foot installation.

The Build Days That Built Community

June 7, 2025, brought humility and growth. The first build day didn't go as planned. The rented sod machine from U-Haul proved unwieldy. Student leaders Lander Gonzalez, Nyelle Blount, Hai-Van Hoang, and Julian Nguyen, barely meeting the age minimum for truck rental, struggled with equipment designed for professional landscapers. But they didn't quit. They learned. They asked for help. And help came.

Two weeks later, on June 21, 2025, magic happened. Community contractors Joseph and Joshua Birl, father and son who had watched Alief change over decades, arrived not as hired help but as invested neighbors. Suddenly, expertise met passion. The archway rose against the Houston sky. Enriched topsoil from Living Earth filled the beds. Edging went in. A weed barrier was laid. Mulch, gravel, and bricks transformed raw earth into a designed space.

But the fundamental transformation was happening in the people. Sawsan Busari and David Beckham Unaegbu from Elsik High School worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Isabelle Arusiuka, Emaan Syed, and Lander Gonzalez from Alief Early College. Bang and Minh Nguyen from the Plant Based Treaty brought their environmental advocacy and community connections. Dr. Alan Steinberg from the West Houston Association, a pillar of the business community, worked alongside Isaac Perez and Joe Garcia, grassroots community organizers. Heather Bisesti from Rice University's School of Engineering brought academic expertise but learned just as much from the community. Eduardo Sanchez connected the work to broader justice movements through his roles with the ACLU and State Representative Ann Johnson's office.

And presiding over it all, in spirit, was Barbara Quattro, Chair Emerita of the Alief Super Neighborhood Council, whose decades of advocacy for Alief had prepared the ground for this moment. The prairie would be dedicated to her legacy.

Throughout summer 2025, both prairies took shape with remarkable speed and community ownership. Intelligent irrigation systems were designed and installed by experts like those from Archie's Gardening, local master naturalists who saw in these students the future of environmental stewardship. On July 19, another major build day brought Karen Loper from the International Management District to work alongside students. They installed benches designed for durability and beauty, along with educational signage created through collaboration with Houston Audubon and other conservation partners.

September 13 marked a profound milestone. The WOW Project, which had approved the original site, hosted its community outing and night market at the prairie. Families gathered on the benches. Children ran through the pathways. Elders touched the native grasses. The space was already serving as the "third place" it was meant to be, a gathering ground beyond home and work where community happens organically, where Vietnamese grandmothers share benches with Nigerian mothers, where Pakistani teens play near Congolese children.

The Crescendo and Community Expansion

The crescendo came on September 27, 2025. Over 50 volunteers, representing the full, beautiful spectrum of Alief's diversity, gathered for the major planting day. Kyle Frese from Decentralized Farming LLC led workshops on growing food sustainably. Kate Unger shared National Wildlife Federation expertise about prairie ecosystems. Urban Harvest, Growing Green Thumbs, and Alabama Community Gardens brought decades of combined knowledge about native plants and community gardening.

And then they planted. 240 native Texas plants went into the ground that day: Gulf Coast Muhly grasses that would sway silver in the breeze, Texas Coneflowers in bold yellows, Aquatic Milkweed to host monarch butterflies on their epic migrations, Indian Blanket wildflowers in brilliant oranges and reds that would carpet the prairie each spring, Seaside Goldenrod, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Lyreleaf Sage. Each species was chosen not just for beauty but for ecological function.

Parents lifted children to pat down soil around plants that would outlive them all. Teenagers took photos with dirt-covered hands, posting about prairie ecology to Instagram and TikTok, making environmental justice cool. Elders sat on the new benches, watching the future literally take root in soil their community had prepared.

Perhaps the most remarkable chapter of community-driven innovation began in June 2025 at a Brays Village East Homeowners Association meeting. Board Chair Alfonso Peña and Board Member Paul Dunnand were discussing a persistent problem with their HOA members: maintenance crews kept mowing through a neglected area near the clubhouse, causing erosion, wasting resources, and creating an eyesore. The community had tried various solutions, but nothing stuck. When AliefVotes was invited to present at the meeting, residents immediately saw the connection. The same pocket prairie model that was transforming the Alief Community Garden could solve the neighborhood's problem while adding beauty and environmental benefits. The HOA community embraced the idea enthusiastically. Within days, Alfonso Peña and Paul Dunnand had convened additional community discussions, gathering input from residents about placement, design preferences, and maintenance responsibilities. The proposal connected directly back to those four community meetings from early 2025, where Alief residents had voted for pocket prairies as their preferred climate resilience solution. The Brays Village East community realized they could be part of this broader movement while addressing their specific neighborhood challenge.

When the Resilient Cities Network heard about this organic community opportunity, they responded with the flexibility that defined their partnership approach. Through their collaboration with Orbia, they found an additional $10,000 in funding to support this second prairie. Kaavya Rizal and Jordana Vasquez worked quickly to adjust grant timelines and budgets, understanding that authentic community organizing often means responding to opportunities as they arise rather than forcing predetermined plans onto neighborhoods.

By October 4, 2025, when the second prairie at Brays Village East held its build day, the community ownership was evident in every detail. They were signing their names on the archway, literally inscribing themselves into their neighborhood's infrastructure. Families who had initially been skeptical about losing lawn space were now the prairie's most prominent champions, explaining to new neighbors how the native plants would reduce their HOA's maintenance costs while preventing erosion. The prairie wasn't something done for them or to them. It was something they built together, with youth leadership showing them what was possible and the community making it their own.

Building an Ecosystem of Support and National Recognition

The partnership ecosystem that made this possible reads like a directory of everyone who matters in Houston community development. Beyond the core partners already named, the network expanded to include Alief ISD Superintendent Dr. Anthony Mays and Director of Maintenance Glenn Jarrett, who saw educational opportunities in every plant. Council Member Tiffany D. Thomas and Chief of Staff Lambda Green connected city resources and political will. Leonel Resendiz, educator at Kerr/Taylor High School, integrated prairie ecology into his curriculum.

The list continues with student leaders who gave countless hours: Fernanda Santana, Perry Sharp, and Yemi Reuben, who each brought unique skills and perspectives. Volunteers like Madeline, Cindy, and Erica, whose names may not make headlines but whose hands built every pathway. Organizations like Houston Audubon Society, Coastal Prairie Conservancy, Native Plant Society of Texas, Trees for Houston, Target Hunger, Link Houston, and Houston Wilderness each contributed expertise, resources, or networks.

Suppliers became partners too. Living Earth provided soil and materials. Houston Sign Company and Signarama created educational signage. The Houston Tool Bank made equipment accessible.

In July 2025, the work received national recognition. Abby Triño and Tommy Wan traveled to Chicago for the Resilient Cities Network's Local Roots for Resilience Conference, where they stood alongside YouthBuild Boston and other innovative community resilience projects. They weren't presenting as students seeking validation. They were sharing expertise, offering lessons learned, proving to a national audience that the most innovative climate solutions emerge from communities themselves, especially when young people lead with authentic power. The presentation covered not just technical achievements but also the more profound truth: climate resilience cannot be separated from social justice, green infrastructure means nothing without community ownership, and youth leadership isn't a nice addition but the essential ingredient for transformation.

Disaster Preparedness and Student Leadership

But even as the prairies bloomed, students were already thinking bigger. Through their partnership with the Resilient Cities Network, they secured funding to develop a comprehensive Alief Disaster Preparedness Protocol. This 30-40 page report would integrate everything learned from the prairie projects into broader emergency planning. This protocol would address hurricane preparedness, extreme heat response, flood resilience, and multilingual emergency communications.

The same collaborative approach that built the prairies would now build disaster preparedness infrastructure. Kaavya Rizal and Jordana Vasquez from the Resilient Cities Network continued their unwavering support, understanding that green infrastructure and disaster preparedness are two sides of the same resilience coin. They invested an additional $46,331 to support community workshops, stakeholder meetings, translation services, and the hiring of disaster preparedness consultants who would work with the community, not for them.

Students began convening roundtables with everyone from the Office of Emergency Management to local mosques and churches. They partnered with West Houston Assistance Ministries, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher's office, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones, State Representatives Hubert Vo and Gene Wu, Centerpoint Energy, H-E-B, the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resilience, Houston Food Bank, Lone Star Legal Aid, HOPE Clinic, Legacy Health, Harris County Public Health, Harris County Flood Control, West Street Recovery, the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER), Alief Youth Ministry, FEMA, and the Small Business Administration.

The disaster protocol project employed the same youth-led methodology: student writers drafting sections, multilingual outreach ensuring every community could participate, and focus groups in churches, mosques, temples, and community centers. Organizations like SEWA Houston, Heads Up Houston, Mi Familia en Acción, Air Alliance Houston, Church Without Walls, and the Houston Advanced Research Center became partners in imagining what actual disaster preparedness looks like when communities lead.

At the center of everything were students who refused to accept limitations. Julian Nguyen, now studying at Vanderbilt University, still coordinates volunteers remotely. Emaan Syed manages programs with the efficiency of a seasoned nonprofit professional. Lander Gonzalez leads build days with confidence and skill. Helin Wang and Oyindamola Akintola direct community events that regularly draw hundreds. Sawsan Busari, David Beckham Unaegbu, Isabelle Arusiuka, and Cassidy Wong each brought unique talents in organizing, outreach, and artistic vision that complemented each other perfectly.

These students learned project management, grant writing, ecological science, landscape architecture, community organizing, multilingual communication, partnership development, and, perhaps most importantly, the patient art of collaboration across difference. They learned that transformative change comes not from lone heroes but from building coalitions that honor every voice.

The Living Legacy and Path Forward

Today, the Alief Pocket Prairies stand as living monuments to what's possible in the "forgotten district." Native grasses sway silver in the breeze where concrete once baked at 105 degrees. Monarch butterflies dance between blooms in a dozen colors, their presence proving that even in urban Houston, nature finds a way when given half a chance. Vietnamese elders rest on durable polywood benches near plots where their grandchildren planted coneflowers. Nigerian families walk pathways lined with plants chosen by Pakistani and Congolese neighbors. The installations measure just 500-750 square feet each, but their meaning is infinite.

They prove that Alief is not forgotten, not by its residents, not by its young people, and increasingly, not by institutions that have learned to follow community leadership rather than impose external visions. They prove that youth can lead complex environmental justice projects from conception through implementation. They prove that diversity is not a challenge to be managed but a source of strength to be celebrated. They prove that climate resilience grows from the ground up, one native plant at a time, one relationship at a time, one act of trust in young people at a time.

The prairies will bloom for generations. Texas Coneflowers every summer, Indian Blanket in waves of orange each spring, Milkweed hosting monarchs on their 3,000-mile migration. But more than plants will grow. The students who built these prairies are blooming too, into environmental leaders, policy advocates, community organizers, and living proof that when we invest in young people's vision rather than imposing adult agendas, miracles happen.

This story would not exist without Kaavya Rizal and Jordana Vasquez from the Resilient Cities Network. Their belief in youth leadership wasn't performative. It was foundational. They navigated bureaucracy to get funding when it mattered. They provided technical support without micromanaging. They trusted students to make decisions, to fail, to learn, and to succeed spectacularly. Their partnership model, which is responsive, respectful, and resource-rich, should be the standard for how institutions engage communities. To Kaavya and Jordana: thank you for seeing what was possible before most people did, and for having the courage to invest accordingly.

This is the story of the Alief Pocket Prairie. But more than that, it's the story of Alief itself, a community that refuses to wait for permission to build the future it deserves, that trusts its young people to lead the way, and that proves every single day that America's most diverse neighborhoods are also its most resilient, its most innovative, and its most hopeful.

The prairie will bloom for generations. The disaster preparedness infrastructure will save lives. The green spaces will cool neighborhoods and provide clean air. But perhaps most importantly, a generation of young people now knows that their voices matter, their vision counts, and their leadership can transform the world.

The Living Legacy and Path Forward

Featured: The Pocket Prairie Signs

Both pocket prairies feature beautiful, educational signage that honors our community and teaches visitors about native ecosystems:

Alief Community Garden Pocket Prairie Sign: This sign, installed in early July 2025, dedicates the prairie to Barbara Quattro, Chair Emerita of the Alief Super Neighborhood Council, whose decades of advocacy made this project possible. The sign includes information about the pocket prairie's purpose, lists all major contributors and partners, and features QR codes linking to educational resources about native Texas plants and pollinators. Designed in collaboration with Houston Sign Company, it serves as both a memorial and an educational tool for generations to come.

Brays Village East HOA Pocket Prairie Sign: Installed by Signarama in October 2025, this sign showcases the community-driven nature of the second prairie. It features the names of all community members who participated in the build days, literally signed on the archway. It provides information about the native plant species, their ecological benefits, and how pocket prairies contribute to flood resilience and urban heat reduction. The sign also acknowledges funding partners, including the Resilient Cities Network, National Wildlife Federation, and EPA.

Both signs are weather-resistant, multilingual (English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese), and designed to withstand Houston's climate for years to come.

Watch & Read: Project Documentation

Pocket Prairie Build Day & Update. This video captures the energy and community spirit of our build days at the Alief Community Garden. Watch as students, families, contractors, and community leaders come together to transform bare soil into a thriving native ecosystem. You'll see the installation of archways, benches, and educational signage, and you'll hear directly from youth leaders about why this project matters for Alief's future. The video showcases the collaborative process, from soil preparation to the first plantings, demonstrating how green infrastructure projects can unite diverse communities.

Community Planting Event - September 27, 2025 Experience the incredible energy of our major planting day when over 50 volunteers gathered to plant 240 native Texas plants. This video features workshops led by Kyle Frese (Decentralized Farming LLC), Kate Unger (National Wildlife Federation), and partners from Urban Harvest and Growing Green Thumbs. Watch families work together, children learning about native species, and elders sharing their knowledge. The video beautifully captures the intergenerational, multicultural collaboration that makes Alief special.

Project Proposal & Documentation:

Read the Complete Project Proposal. Access our comprehensive 35-page proposal submitted to the Resilient Cities Network, detailing the vision, budget, timeline, and community engagement process that brought the Alief Pocket Prairies to life. This document includes:

Detailed plant lists with scientific names and ecological benefits
Budget breakdown showing responsible stewardship of $35,870 in funding
Timeline from conception through implementation
Partnership agreements and community meeting summaries
Educational programming plans and maintenance protocols
Data on urban heat island effects and green infrastructure benefits for Alief

This proposal serves as a replicable model for other communities seeking to implement youth-led climate resilience projects.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Prairie maintenance and watering (ongoing)
- Sign up by texting Tommy at 832-209-6616! Watch the watering tutorial here.
Educational tours and workshops
Community events and festivals at the prairie sites
Tree planting and additional green infrastructure projects
Disaster preparedness workshops and kit distribution
Translation and multilingual outreach

For Students:

Join AliefVotes youth leadership programs
Participate in environmental science field trips to the prairies (Especially Youngblood Intermediate students and educators!)
Contribute to our disaster preparedness protocol development
Lead community workshops and engagement sessions

For Organizations & Businesses:

Partner on green infrastructure expansion
Sponsor educational signage and materials
Provide in-kind donations of plants, tools, or supplies
Host joint community resilience events

Contact Information:

AliefVotes Main Office:

Email: admin@aliefvotes.org
Phone: 832-209-6616
Website: aliefvotes.org

Project Leadership:

Abby Gail Triño, Executive Director: abby.trino@aliefvotes.org
Tommy Wan, Program Director: tommy.wan@aliefvotes.org

Whether you can give an hour, a day, or become a long-term partner, there's a place for you in building a more resilient Alief. Reach out today!

In particular, we would like to give a round of shoutouts to the following outstanding student leaders who have led this project: Abisola, Mariam, Nifemi, Ericka, Lander, Emaan, David, Isabelle, Fernanda, Perry, and Julian.

A Resilient Alief: Get Involved!

AliefVotes, in collaboration with the Resilient Cities Network and the National Wildlife Federation, is planting TWO community pocket prairies.

A special thanks to our supporters and partners:

Abby Gail Triño, Executive Director, AliefVotes
Ada Rustow, Program Associate, Resilient Cities Network
Air Alliance Houston
Alabama Community Gardens
Alief ISD
Alief Neighborhood Center
Alief Super Neighborhood Council
Alief Youth Ministry
Allison Ahern, Associate, Resilience Finance Team, Resilient Cities Network
Alfonso Peña, Board Chair, Brays Village East HOA
Archie, Master Naturalist, Archie's Gardening
Bang Nguyen, Community Leader, Plant-Based Treaty
Barbara Quattro, Chair Emerita, Alief Super Neighborhood Council (In Memoriam)
Brays Village East HOA and Board Members
Cailey Andal, Student Leader, Taylor High School
Casey Sheek, Garden Manager, Alief Community Garden
Cassidy Wong, Student Leader, Design Artist & Architectural Student at UT Austin
Centerpoint Energy
Chase, Houston Office Point of Contact, Resilient Cities Network
Chinese Community Center
Christus Foundation for HealthCare
Church Without Walls
Churches, Congregations, Iglesias, and Mosques of Alief
Cindy, Student Volunteer
City of Houston District F
Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER)
Coastal Prairie Conservancy (Della Barbato)
Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher's Office
David Beckham Unaegbu, Student Leader, Elsik High School
Doug Smith, Alief Super Neighborhood Council
Dr. Alan Steinberg, President/CEO, West Houston Association
Dr. Anthony Mays, Superintendent, Alief ISD
Dr. Chelsea Prather, Educator, Kolter Elementary School
Eduardo Sanchez, Volunteer, ACLU & Office of State Representative Ann Johnson
Emaan Syed, Student Leader & Program Manager, Alief Early College High School
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for Broad Funding
Erica, Student Volunteer
Everett Tenjou, Biology Teacher, Taylor High School
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Fernanda Santana, Student Volunteer, Elsik High School
Glenn Jarrett, Director of Maintenance/Operations & Facilities, Alief ISD
Green Star Wetlands
Growing Green Thumbs
H-E-B - Alief Branch
Hai-Van Hoang, Student Leader & Student from Rice University
Harris County Flood Control
Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones
Harris County Public Health
Heads Up Houston
Heather Bisesti, Professor, Rice University School of Engineering
Helin Wang, Director of Events, AliefVotes
Hermann Park Conservancy
Home Depot
HOPE Clinic
Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC)
Houston Audubon Society (Carolyn Klein, Natives Nursery Team Lead)
Houston Food Bank
Houston Health Department
Houston Police Department
Houston Sign Company
Houston Tool Bank
Houston Wilderness
Houston Zoo
International Management District (Natali Hurtado, Executive Director; Karen Loper, Board Member)
Isaac Perez, Community Leader & Volunteer
Isabelle Arusiuka, Student Leader, Alief Early College High School
Jay & Vanessa Lipscomb, Founders, WOW Project
Joe Garcia, Community Leader & Volunteer
Jordan Vasquez (Jordana Vasquez), Senior Manager Climate Resilience & Program Manager, National Wildlife Federation
Joseph & Joshua Birl, Community Contractors & Volunteers
Josh Kelly, Irrigation Consultant
Joshua's Native Plants
Julian Nguyen, Student Leader & Volunteer, Vanderbilt University
Kaavya Rizal, Program Coordinator, Resilient Cities Network & National Wildlife Federation
Karen Loper, Board Member, International Management District
Kate Unger, Resilience in Schools Coordinator, National Wildlife Federation
Katrin Bruebach, Director of Programs and Delivery, Resilient Cities Network
Keep Houston Beautiful
Kyle Frese, Decentralized Farming LLC
Lambda Green, Chief of Staff, Houston City Council Member District F
Lander Gonzalez, Student Leader, Alief Early College High School
Legacy Health
Leonel Resendiz, Educator, Kerr/Taylor High School, Alief ISD
Link Houston
Living Earth (Materials Supplier)
Local Alief Businesses
Madeline Medrano, AliefVotes Program Manager (2024-2025)
Malcolm Campbell, Former Houston Lead, Resilient Cities Network
Marya Fowler, Director of Education and Outreach, National Wildlife Federation
Mayor's Office of Education, City of Houston
Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resilience, City of Houston
Melissa Rogers, Educator & Master Naturalist
Mia Nguyen, Student Leader
Mi Familia en Acción
Michael Valdez, Program Advisor, National Wildlife Federation
Minh Nguyen, Community Leader, Plant-Based Treaty
Miracle Bui, Alief Super Neighborhood Council and Precinct 4
Nathaniel (Nate) Echeverria, Finance & ,Engagement Lead North America, Resilient Cities Network
Natali Hurtado, Executive Director, International Management District
National Wildlife Federation
Native Plant Society of Texas, Houston Chapter
Nature Heritage Society
Ninet Flores Miranda, Student Leader, Taylor High School
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Nyelle Blount, Student Leader at Taylor High School
Office of Emergency Management (City of Houston and Harris County)
Oyindamola Akintola, Director of Events, AliefVotes
Paul Dunnand, Board Member, Brays Village East HOA
Perry Sharp, Student Volunteer, Elsik High School
Philandis Stoval, Founder, Ziggy Champion Kids
Rice University
Sawsan Busari, Student Leader, Elsik High School
SEWA Houston
Signarama
State Representative Ann Johnson's Office
State Representative Gene Wu
State Representative Hubert Vo
Target Hunger
TBG Architects Team (Meade & Team)
Tiffany D. Thomas, Houston City Council Member, District F
Tommy Wan, Program Director, AliefVotes
Tracy Gee Community Center
Trees for Houston
Trinity Houston Gardens
Urban Harvest
Valeria Isabel Castellanos Soto, Communications, Resilient Cities Network
Walter Hambrick, Precinct 4 Road and Bridge Team
West Houston Association & Dr. Alan Steinberg
West Houston Assistance Ministries
West Street Recovery
WOW Project
Yaneth, City of Houston Resilience Office
Yemi Reuben, Student Volunteer, Foster High School
Youngblood Intermediate School
Zurich Insurance
Glenn Jarrett - Alief ISD, Director Maintenance/Operations & Facilities
Jay and Vanessa Lipscomb - Founders, Wow Project
Karen Loper - Board Member, International Management District
Casey Sheek - Garden Manager, Alief Community Garden
Dr. Anthony Mays - Superintendent, Alief ISD
Sawsan Busari - Student Leader, Elsik High School
Lander Gonzalez - Student Leader, Alief Early College High School
Isabelle Arusiuka - Student Leader, Alief Early College High School
Emaan Syed - Student Leader & Program Manager, Alief Early College High School
Alfonso Peña - Board Chair, Brays Village East HOA
Paul Dunnand - Board Member, Brays Village East HOA
Eduardo Sanchez - Volunteer & Staff, ACLU & Office of State Representative Johnson
Bang & Minh Nguyen - Community Leaders, Plant-Based Treaty
Leonel Resendiz - Educator, Alief ISD Teacher at Kerr/Taylor High School
Isaac Perez - Volunteer and Community Leader
Heather Bisesti - Volunteer & Professor, Rice University School of Engineering
Fernanda Santana - Student Volunteer, Elsik High School
Perry Sharp - Student Volunteer, Elsik High School

Want to be involved and help out? Email admin@aliefvotes.org or contact/text 832-209-6616 for more information! Below are mock-ups created by student Cassidy Wong. Below are the current photos of the Alief Community Garden Pocket Prairie.

Alief Pocket Prairie Build Day - June 21.png

Read the Entire Project Proposal Here