Air Alliance Houston (AAH) is a left-of-center environmentalist organization based in Houston, Texas that advocates for improved air quality, universal abortion access, environmental justice, climate change activism, and equity. AAH promotes the closure of coal power plants, has aided the city of Houston in creating a Climate Action Plan, and has advocated for the critical race theory-derived concept of “equity” in Houston following 2017’s Hurricane Harvey. ¹

History and Activities

Air Alliance Houston was originally founded as the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP) in 1988, an organization of residents in the Houston region advocating for the prevention and elimination of smog. In 1998, GHASP and another Texas nonprofit, Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA), merged under the name GHASP/MfCA. In 2010, the organization renamed itself Air Alliance Houston. ¹

AAH conducts public education campaigns about the dangers of air pollution, advocates for policy changes to reduce air pollution, and funds research into the effects of air pollution. ¹

In 2012, AAH launched the Healthy Port Communities Coalition (HPCC) to oppose pollution in the Houston Shipping Channel. ¹

In 2017, AAH celebrated that it chose its “first woman of color” to lead the organization, Bakeyah S. Nelson. ¹

In 2018, AAH joined the Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience (CEER) to promote the critical race theory-derived concept of “equity” following Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast in 2017. ¹

In 2021, AAH helped develop the city of Houston’s Climate Action Plan. ¹

In 2023, AAH and Tecolotl created the Encuentro initiative to discuss and promote the intersection of environmentalism and abortion. That same year, AAH helped launch the #CloseParishCoal campaign to advocate for increased regulations on the Parish Coal plant. ¹

AAH promotes the left-of-center principles of “climate justice” and “equity” and argues that air quality is linked to “systemic racism.” ¹ As part of its mobilizing for climate justice campaign, AAH says abortion access is inherently tied to environmental justice. ²

As of November 2024, AAH had six campaigns: building healthy communities, supporting sustainable and equitable transportation, protecting against chemical disasters, monitoring our air, advancing climate justice, and mobilizing for climate justice. ²

Previous campaigns by AAH include promoting an anti-idling ordinance, creating a public theater to educate on ozone pollution, and hosting an Earth Day festival and art contest. ²

People

As of 2025, the executive director of Air Alliance Houston was Jennifer Hadayia. Hadaiya became the executive director of AAH in 2021. Previously, she was the senior director of public health at Legacy Community Health in Houston; a senior policy planner, health equity coordinator, and public health analyst at Harris County Public Health; a Health Planner for Harris County; and a public health program manager for Northern Nevada Public Health. ^{3  4}

In 2023, AAH’s former climate justice coordinator, Alexander Spike, was appointed to the Biden administration’s White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Task Force to Inform Responsible Development and Deployment of Carbon Capture Utilization and Sequestration. ¹

Financials

According to its tax return, in 2023 Air Alliance Houston reported $3,255,799 in revenues, $3,200,249 in expenses, and $4,583,563 in assets. Of its expenses, Air Alliance Houston spent $329,126 on educating the public about air pollution, $2,056,915 on public advocacy campaigns against air pollution, and $427,759 on air quality research. Air Alliance Houston received over seven percent of its revenue ($252,246) from government grants and nearly the rest of its revenue ($2,992,896) from other gifts, grants, and contributions. ³

1. “Our History.” Air Alliance Houston. Accessed November 13, 2025. https://airalliancehouston.org/our-history/.
2. “Our Campaigns. Air Alliance Houston. Accessed November 13, 2025. https://airalliancehouston.org/our-advocacy/our-campaigns/.
3. Air Alliance Houston. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. Form 990. 2023.
4. “Jennifer Hadayia, MPA (She/Her).” LinkedIn. Accessed November 13, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhadayia/details/experience/.