Ayanna has led programs at environmental and cultural institutions for over twenty years before. As executive director of Bayou City Waterkeeper, she develops frameworks for new ways of advocating for water that center justice, cross-disciplinary collaboration, culture, and narrative change. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Ayanna is inspired by the ecological and cultural diversity of Houston. She sees water as a catalyst to address larger systemic inequities and injustices around pollution, unregulated development, and the loss of natural infrastructure. Ayanna is also an artist and writer who develops work around nature and diaspora.