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