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