Color Of Water

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

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Roland Jones

CIS

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Victor Galvan

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

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Jasmine Walker

IMPACT Community Action

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Olga Cano

HUD

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Paula Buchanan

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

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Esteban Ortiz

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

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Benu Amun Ra

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

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Afia Zakiya

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

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

shama perveen

Ceres

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Aria Harris

TYLin

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Talia London

The Common Acre

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Walt Walker

TYLin

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

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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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