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