Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Walt Walker

TYLin

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Olga Cano

HUD

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Roland Jones

CIS

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Aria Harris

TYLin

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Talia London

The Common Acre

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

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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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