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