Color Of Water

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

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Aria Harris

TYLin

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Victor Galvan

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

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Walt Walker

TYLin

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Benu Amun Ra

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

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Esteban Ortiz

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

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Roland Jones

CIS

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Afia Zakiya

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

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Talia London

The Common Acre

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Olga Cano

HUD

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Paula Buchanan

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

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

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.

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!

Are you a current member?

Update your color of water profile.

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?