Color Of Water

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

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Aria Harris

TYLin

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Paula Buchanan

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

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Olga Cano

HUD

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Jasmine Walker

IMPACT Community Action

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Afia Zakiya

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

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

shama perveen

Ceres

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Portia Shepherd

www.blackbeltwomenrising.org

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Esteban Ortiz

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

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Roland Jones

CIS

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Walt Walker

TYLin

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Benu Amun Ra

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

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Talia London

The Common Acre

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Victor Galvan

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

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

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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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