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

300 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage and a Nation's Crumbling Pipes: America's Wastewater Infrastructure Is Failing in Real Time – Nature World News
Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after a major pipe collapse, exposing America’s worsening wastewater infrastructure crisis. [from

Native American Tribes Came Together to Secure Their Rights to Colorado River Water. Four States Are Stalling the Deal. – ProPublica
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely

Millions of Americans still live without running water. What it will take to plug the water gap – Straight Arrow
Millions of Americans still lack running water, forcing families to haul every drop as aging systems, high costs and poor data tracking widen the gap.