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

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]