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