Color Of Water

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

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Andrea León-Grossmann

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Aria Harris

TYLin

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Afia Zakiya

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

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Talia London

The Common Acre

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Roland Jones

CIS

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Walt Walker

TYLin

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Olga Cano

HUD

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Victor Galvan

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

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Benu Amun Ra

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

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Esteban Ortiz

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

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Paula Buchanan

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

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

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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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