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