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

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

Colorado River Water Access Calls for this Sensible Solution | Opinion – Arizona Institute for Resilience
The old ways of managing the shrinking Colorado River aren't helping Arizona. But there is a way all of the compact states could find a
