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