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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as