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

300 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage and a Nation's Crumbling Pipes: America's Wastewater Infrastructure Is Failing in Real Time – Nature World News
Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after a major pipe collapse, exposing America’s worsening wastewater infrastructure crisis. [from

Native American Tribes Came Together to Secure Their Rights to Colorado River Water. Four States Are Stalling the Deal. – ProPublica
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely

Millions of Americans still live without running water. What it will take to plug the water gap – Straight Arrow
Millions of Americans still lack running water, forcing families to haul every drop as aging systems, high costs and poor data tracking widen the gap.