Color Of Water

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

Esteban Ortiz

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

Olga Cano

HUD

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Paula Buchanan

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

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Benu Amun Ra

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

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Victor Galvan

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

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Walt Walker

TYLin

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Roland Jones

CIS

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Afia Zakiya

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

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Talia London

The Common Acre

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Aria Harris

TYLin

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

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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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