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

300 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage and a Nation's Crumbling Pipes: America's Wastewater Infrastructure Is Failing in Real Time – Nature World News
Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after a major pipe collapse, exposing America’s worsening wastewater infrastructure crisis. [from

Native American Tribes Came Together to Secure Their Rights to Colorado River Water. Four States Are Stalling the Deal. – ProPublica
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely

Millions of Americans still live without running water. What it will take to plug the water gap – Straight Arrow
Millions of Americans still lack running water, forcing families to haul every drop as aging systems, high costs and poor data tracking widen the gap.