Color Of Water

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

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Olga Cano

HUD

Aria Harris

TYLin

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Esteban Ortiz

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

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Afia Zakiya

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

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Talia London

The Common Acre

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Victor Galvan

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

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Walt Walker

TYLin

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Benu Amun Ra

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

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Roland Jones

CIS

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Paula Buchanan

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

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

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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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