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

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

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

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]