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

2.9 billion gallons of clean drinking water added to California’s supply with new investments | Governor of California
[from Governor of California]

Will adding more lanes fix I-270 congestion? CDOT’s favored fix will test its new mission, opponents say. – The Colorado Sun
CDOT wants to widen I-270 to speed traffic and heighten safety, but clean transportation advocates say the old solutions are no longer relevant. [from The