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