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

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

Colorado River Water Access Calls for this Sensible Solution | Opinion – Arizona Institute for Resilience
The old ways of managing the shrinking Colorado River aren't helping Arizona. But there is a way all of the compact states could find a
