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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they