Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Olga Cano

HUD

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Newsha Ajami

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Talia London

The Common Acre

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Aria Harris

TYLin

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Shama Perveen

CERES

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Walt Walker

TYLin

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

maritza mendoza

Empower DC

Angela Guyadeen

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Jasmine Walker

IMPACT Community Action

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Ayako Tischler

Moonshot Missions

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Heather Tanana

University of California, Irvine

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Roland Jones

CIS

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

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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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