Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Olga Cano

HUD

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Angela Guyadeen

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Priscila B R Alves

University of Maryland

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Naveen Adusumilli

Louisiana State University

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Roland Jones

CIS

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Walt Walker

TYLin

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

Environmental Defense Fund

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Talia London

The Common Acre

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Ayako Tischler

Moonshot Missions

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Shama Perveen

CERES

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Alexis Roig

United Nations University

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jasmine Walker

IMPACT Community Action

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Frank Ruiz

Audubon California

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Emma Robbins

Planet Woman

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Aria Harris

TYLin

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Analise Rivero

California Trout

trending topics

These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.

Video Library

Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.

About Us

The Color of Water Initiative was created by the Water Hub to build voice and visibility for people of color in the water movement. Our goal is to connect reporters with a more diverse set of experts, and build capacity for these experts to elevate the stories of their communities, which have often been left out of conversations around water. 

 

From water access and drought response in the West to lead pipes and PFAS pollution in the Great Lakes to recurring flooding and water infrastructure failures in the South, Color of Water members have deep expertise and first-hand experience on water challenges and solutions all across the country.


Read the joint statement by Color of Water members on the importance of equity in the water world.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

Register to Join our Expert Directory

If you identify as a person of color with expertise in water (including lived experience or ancestral knowledge) or work in fields that intersect with water (like health, farming, housing, planning, etc.) please submit your information to us!

Are you a current member?

Update your color of water profile.

Can’t access your email?  Get in touch with us!

Are you a journalist?

Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.

What are Color of Water members talking about?