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