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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as