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

2.9 billion gallons of clean drinking water added to California’s supply with new investments | Governor of California
[from Governor of California]

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. – The Colorado Sun
CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant. [from The