Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Talia London

The Common Acre

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Olga Cano

HUD

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Walt Walker

TYLin

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Aria Harris

TYLin

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Roland Jones

CIS

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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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