Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Direlle Calica
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Walt Walker
TYLin
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
Aria Harris
TYLin
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Alastair Bitsóí
Near the Water Media & Communications Group
Berhanu Sinshaw
University of California Merced
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Ayako Tischler
Xylem
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Angela Guyadeen
NRDC
Maritza Mendoza
Empower DC
Talia London
The Common Acre
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Heather Tanana
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Olga Cano
HUD
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Guadalupe Fernandez
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Hayat Rasul
LA County
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Shama Perveen
Ceres
Alai Reyes-Santos
Alaí Community Consulting
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Roland Jones
CIS
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Newsha Ajami
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Olga Morales
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Jasmine Walker
Ohio Environmental Council
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Moisés Moreno-Rivera
Trust for Public Land
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Nieves Vazquez
Water For People
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Portia Shepherd
Blackbelt Women Rising
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
trending topics
These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.
Video Library
Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.
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!
Are you a current member?
Can’t access your email? Get in touch with us!
Are you a journalist?
Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.
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