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