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