Color Of Water

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

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Victor Galvan

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

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Esteban Ortiz

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

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Walt Walker

TYLin

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Paula Buchanan

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

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Roland Jones

CIS

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Olga Cano

HUD

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Afia Zakiya

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

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Benu Amun Ra

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

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Talia London

The Common Acre

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Aria Harris

TYLin

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

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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

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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