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

Day laborers face hardships in the aftermath of Altadena fire, study reveals – CaloNews.com
A new report shows that many day laborers who worked in debris cleanup and recovery after the January 2025 wildfire in Altadena often worked through

American data centers in just seven states are reportedly using more water than all the cities in California – TechRadar
Data centers in seven states consume 10.4 million acre-feet of water [from TechRadar]

The Great Mayfly Swarms of Lake Erie – National Parks Conservation Association
Summer mayflies along Lake Erie’s coastline may be nasty and annoying, but they share glad tidings about environmental recovery. NPCA played a role. [from National