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