Color Of Water

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

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Roland Jones

CIS

Esteban Ortiz

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

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Talia London

The Common Acre

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Benu Amun Ra

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

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Andrea León-Grossmann

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Olga Cano

HUD

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Walt Walker

TYLin

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Aria Harris

TYLin

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Afia Zakiya

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

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Paula Buchanan

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

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Victor Galvan

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

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

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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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