Color Of Water

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

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Talia London

The Common Acre

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Esteban Ortiz

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

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Afia Zakiya

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

Andrea León-Grossmann

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Benu Amun Ra

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

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Olga Cano

HUD

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Roland Jones

CIS

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Paula Buchanan

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

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Victor Galvan

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

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Aria Harris

TYLin

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Walt Walker

TYLin

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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?

Update your color of water profile.

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?