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.
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?

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]