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

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. – The Colorado Sun
CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant. [from The

Tribes are stuck as Colorado River negotiation deadline nears with no deal – KJZZ
Beyond the bickering Upper and Lower Basin states, there are 30 federally recognized tribes stuck in the middle of a decades-old debate on how best