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

How a Michigan Supreme Court decision on a Line 5 permit might ripple beyond the pipeline – Interlochen Public Radio
Justices vacated a permit for the pipeline, while also issuing a consequential ruling for state environmental reviews on several fronts — including the state’s public

New Park Bench Monitors Offer a Pathway to Air Pollution Solutions – The Washington Informer
The District added four Village Green monitors in May to increase air quality data accessibility for residents in underserved wards. [from The Washington Informer]

New Colorado River plan causes concern and uncertainty for some tribal nations in Arizona – KNAU Arizona Public Radio
The federal framework could result in steep cuts to Arizona’s share of river water. Some Native American communities could be impacted. [from KNAU Arizona Public