Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Aria Harris

TYLin

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Roland Jones

CIS

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Talia London

The Common Acre

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Walt Walker

TYLin

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Olga Cano

HUD

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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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