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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as