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

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