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

Day laborers face hardships in the aftermath of Altadena fire, study reveals – CaloNews.com
A new report shows that many day laborers who worked in debris cleanup and recovery after the January 2025 wildfire in Altadena often worked through

American data centers in just seven states are reportedly using more water than all the cities in California – TechRadar
Data centers in seven states consume 10.4 million acre-feet of water [from TechRadar]

The Great Mayfly Swarms of Lake Erie – National Parks Conservation Association
Summer mayflies along Lake Erie’s coastline may be nasty and annoying, but they share glad tidings about environmental recovery. NPCA played a role. [from National