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