Ann Lents completed 15 years of service as a member of the HPB Board of Directors in June 2024. During her tenure, she served as Chair of the Advocacy Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. Read below a feature from our May newsletter celebrating the positive impact her efforts have had on Houston. HPB is thankful for Ann’s expertise and guidance through pivotal initiatives during her tenure.

Cheers to Ann for leaving an indelible impact on Houston’s parks!

Ann Lents has been an active volunteer and advocate for parks, children, and quality of life in Houston for twenty years. A native Houstonian, a mother and grandmother, and an enthusiastic hiker, skier, and gardener, the natural world has enriched her life and convinced her that active recreation and nature are essential to physical and mental health.

Through a variety of volunteer and other jobs she has focused on bringing the beauty of nature and health to everyone in the City.

As a parent and grandparent of Houstonians, making the City a wonderful place to live for the future is a key focus.  

Trained as a lawyer and having practiced law with Vinson & Elkins as a partner in the commercial litigation group, she has especially focused on creating good public policy for parks and for quality of life generally.

A founder and Co-Chair of the Quality of Life Coalition (2000-2011), a collective of 70+ organizations dedicated to greening and beautifying Houston focused on parks, trees, signage, and cleanliness for a better quality of life, she worked with others from the business and civic communities to plant trees, limit signage and billboards, and build parks. Among other things, the group conceived the Bayou Greenways initiative now brought to fruition by HPB, and brought quality of life to the fore of the civic conversation. She has served as a board member and chair of Trees for Houston, as an advisory board member of the Houston Botanic Garden and Houston Wilderness, and as a member of the State Parks Advisory Committee. 

Focusing on children and the future of Houston, Ann proudly serves on the board of Texas Children’s Hospital, where she is a past chair of the board. She has served on the boards of The Kinkaid School and DePelchin Children’s Center, and worked as President & CEO of the Center for Houston’s Future. She chairs the Memorial Heights Redevelopment Authority and TIRZ 5, which builds quality city infrastructure and facilities in its area.

A graduate of Wellesley College and the University of Texas School of Law, Ann has been honored as The Kinkaid School’s Distinguished Alumni. She is a member of the Garden Club of Houston.

Ann and her husband David Heaney are thrilled that their children have chosen to live in Houston and that their grandchildren are being raised here.