She is known for bringing attention to failing sewage treatment infrastructure in rural U.S communities, particularly in Lowndes County, Alabama.

Flowers was inspired to pursue environmental activism by her parents, who were influential community activists during the American Civil Rights Movement.

[2] When she was 16, Flowers became a Robert Kennedy Fellow and got involved in civic issues facing her high school and larger community.

[3] Flowers learned that her principal, Robert Pierce, was allegedly involved in the death of a nine-year-old Black girl.

[3] This encouraged her to expose the misconduct and poor conditions at her high school—which was segregated in practice—and was eventually successful in getting Pierce and the school board superintendent to resign.

[7][8] She received federal approval from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce a plan to address raw sewage in Lowndes County.

[9] In 2011, Flowers worked with a UN Special Rapporteur to better understand poverty and its impacts on infrastructure in Lowndes County, Alabama.

[11] Flowers and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute investigated how structural inequalities impact access to sanitation and clean water.