meet our steering committee

 For the past four years, Resha Thomas has served as the statewide political director for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) - Texas. Since 2010, Resha has focused on creating and implementing field programs geared towards increasing the vote of the rising American electorate communities. Resha is a native Houstonian who enjoys spending her weekends exploring Houston’s diverse food scene. 

Bakeyah S. Nelson, PhD, is the Executive Director of Air Alliance Houston - a nonprofit organization working to reduce the public health impacts of air pollution and advance environmental justice in Houston. Dr. Nelson has a diverse background in public health and public policy and has been working to reduce environmental inequities where people live, work, learn, and play in Houston communities since 2009.   She was honored as one of the Texas Organizing Project’s 2018 Community Champions. She is a Senior Fellow of Class XLVI of the American Leadership Forum and was selected as one of the Aspen Institute’s Health Scholars for the 2019 Aspen Ideas Festival.  Dr. Nelson is also a contributing faculty member with Baylor University's Department of Public Health.

 Reverend James Caldwell is a native of Fifth Ward, a historically African American community and one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston. In 2008, his passion for the community led him to birth COCO and develop a community network that builds sustainability within the community through dissemination of information and community events. In partnership with groups like Texas Southern University professor Dr. Robert Bullard, COCO puts on environmental justice community meetings that educate the community on a variety of resilience issues.

 Mary Anne coordinates the Conservancy’s land protection programs and conservation assistance to private landowners, establishes community partnerships and relationships with diverse stakeholders, and oversees the agency’s operations and programs.  She expanded the land protection program from 1,300 acres in 1999 to nearly 23,000 acres today; implemented a conservation buyer program to support additional conservation; and formed joint venture partnerships to restore habitat while also increasing earned income using stream and wetlands mitigation projects.  
She received a Master of City Planning from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of New Hampshire. In 2014, Ms. Piacentini was one of four women to receive the inaugural Terry Hershey Texas Women in Conservation award. 

Alex Birnel (He/Him) is the Advocacy Manager at MOVE Texas. In his role with MOVE Texas, he leads issue-based campaigns affectIng the lives of young people, building power across the state of Texas. Alex helped found MOVE San Antonio during his time studying anthropology and political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and is also an experienced community advocate and organizer. In his personal organizing efforts, he helped found the local San Antonio DSA chapter. He also served a year term on the National Political Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America, a 16 member body and the highest political arm of that organization.