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