Color Of Water

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

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Tanner Yess

Groundwork Ohio River Valley

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Michael Mendez

UC Irvine

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Damian Shapes Padilla

Georgetown University

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Priscila B R Alves

University of Maryland

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Jorge Roman-Romero

Georgetown University Law Center

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Alex Ortiz

Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Maritza Mendoza

GreenLatinos

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Services

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Afia Zakiya

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

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Ayako Tischler

Moonshot Missions

Ruthie Redmond

Trimtab Sustainable Waters

Shama Perveen

CERES

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Victor Galvan

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

Anita Shervington

BLAST Fest

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Rachele Lopez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Emma Robbins

Planet Woman

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Olga Cano

Environmental Protection Agency

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Vicky Espinoza

The Nature Conservancy

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Nasim Pica

Weston Solutions, Inc.

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Frank Ruiz

Audubon California

Angela Guyadeen

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Chakena Perry

NRDC

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Kristi Pullen Fedinick

The George Washington University

Ngodoo Atume

UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Nahal Ghoghaie

Kearns & West

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

santos samayoa

Comms Consultant

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Jeremiah Muhammad

Blacks In Green

Emily Raquel Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Marleen Villanueva

Department of Women and Gender Studies at Texas Christian University

Carlos Calderon

Wmeac

Fernando Ramirez

Hydraloop Inc.

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Paula Buchanan

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

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Alastair Bitsóí

Inside Climate News

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Alondra Hernandez

WEAT

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Jacob Bernal

Washington State University

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Kimbaya Carriere

First Nations Fisheries Council- Water For Fish

Nasim Pica

Antea Group USA

Vidya Balasubramanyam

Coastal States Organization

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Billie Li

Massachusetts Department of Transportation

Naveen Adusumilli

Louisiana State University

Jahan Taganova

One Young World Peace Ambassador

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Thea Louis

Duke Energy Corporation

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado Water Center

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Nadine Robertson

Manchac Management Services and Consulting Group

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Jared Romero

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Inc

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Elizabeth Ruiz

Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Program

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Maritza Mendoza

GreenLatinos

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Esteban Ortiz

Columbia Riverkeeper

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium/University of California Santa Cruz

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

Environmental Defense Fund

Roland Jones

CIS

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos / CO Dept. of Public Health and Env.

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

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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 launch of the Color of Water directory and the importance of equity and inclusion in the water world. 

experts across the country

explore the Color of Water directory

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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