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

Tree ambassadors help Milwaukee residents fall in love with trees » Yale Climate Connections
Yale Climate Connections is a nonpartisan, multimedia service providing daily broadcast radio programming and original web-based reporting, commentary, and analysis on the issue of climate
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]