Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Aria Harris
TYLin
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
Walt Walker
TYLin
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
Alastair Bitsóí
Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Roland Jones
CIS
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Alai Reyes-Santos
University of Oregon
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Gabe Vasquez
US Congress
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Heather Tanana
University of California, Irvine
maritza mendoza
Empower DC
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Angela Guyadeen
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Olga Morales Pate
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Olga Cano
HUD
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Ayako Tischler
Moonshot Missions
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Talia London
The Common Acre
maritza mendoza
Empower DC
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Jasmine Walker
IMPACT Community Action
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
Shama Perveen
CERES
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Newsha Ajami
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
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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.
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!
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What are Color of Water members talking about?
VOICES: Why Michigan’s data center fight is really about who gets to decide – Planet Detroit
Data centers are being developed in Michigan, but local concerns about environmental impacts and community effects are being overlooked. [from Planet Detroit]

2.9 billion gallons of clean drinking water added to California’s supply with new investments | Governor of California
[from Governor of California]

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. – The Colorado Sun
CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant. [from The