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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they