Color Of Water

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

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Esteban Ortiz

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

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Talia London

The Common Acre

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Aria Harris

TYLin

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Paula Buchanan

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

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Olga Cano

HUD

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Walt Walker

TYLin

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Afia Zakiya

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

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Benu Amun Ra

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

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Roland Jones

CIS

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Victor Galvan

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

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

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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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