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

300 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage and a Nation's Crumbling Pipes: America's Wastewater Infrastructure Is Failing in Real Time – Nature World News
Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after a major pipe collapse, exposing America’s worsening wastewater infrastructure crisis. [from

Native American Tribes Came Together to Secure Their Rights to Colorado River Water. Four States Are Stalling the Deal. – ProPublica
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely

Millions of Americans still live without running water. What it will take to plug the water gap – Straight Arrow
Millions of Americans still lack running water, forcing families to haul every drop as aging systems, high costs and poor data tracking widen the gap.