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