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

2.9 billion gallons of clean drinking water added to California’s supply with new investments | Governor of California
[from Governor of California]

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. – The Colorado Sun
CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant. [from The