Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Olga Cano
HUD
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Newsha Ajami
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Alai Reyes-Santos
University of Oregon
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Talia London
The Common Acre
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
Aria Harris
TYLin
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
maritza mendoza
Empower DC
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Gabe Vasquez
US Congress
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Olga Morales Pate
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Shama Perveen
CERES
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Walt Walker
TYLin
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
maritza mendoza
Empower DC
Angela Guyadeen
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Jasmine Walker
IMPACT Community Action
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
Ayako Tischler
Moonshot Missions
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Alastair Bitsóí
Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Heather Tanana
University of California, Irvine
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Roland Jones
CIS
trending topics
These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.
Video Library
Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.
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!
Are you a current member?
Can’t access your email? Get in touch with us!
Are you a journalist?
Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.
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