Color Of Water

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

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Shama Perveen

CERES

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Ayako Tischler

Moonshot Missions

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Esteban Ortiz

Gorge Aspirations/ Aspiraciones del Gorge

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Afia Zakiya

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

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Paula Buchanan

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

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Priscila B R Alves

University of Maryland

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Jorge Roman-Romero

Bassman, Mitchell, Alfano & Leiter Chtd.

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Pallavi Bharadwaj

Society of Exploration Geophysicists

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Naveen Adusumilli

Louisiana State University

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Olga Cano

HUD

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Talia London

The Common Acre

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Victor Galvan

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

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Kaiser Ahad

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Vidya Balasubramanyam

Coastal States Organization

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Angela Guyadeen

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Analise Rivero

California Trout

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

Environmental Defense Fund

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Frank Ruiz

Audubon California

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Emma Robbins

Planet Woman

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Walt Walker

TYLin

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Jeremiah Muhammad

Blacks In Green

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Chakena Perry

NRDC

Roland Jones

CIS

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

trending topics

These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.

Video Library

Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.

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

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!

Are you a current member?

Update your color of water profile.

Can’t access your email?  Get in touch with us!

Are you a journalist?

Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.

What are Color of Water members talking about?