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

2.9 billion gallons of clean drinking water added to California’s supply with new investments | Governor of California
[from Governor of California]

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