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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they