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