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