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