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