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
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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?

Day laborers face hardships in the aftermath of Altadena fire, study reveals – CaloNews.com
A new report shows that many day laborers who worked in debris cleanup and recovery after the January 2025 wildfire in Altadena often worked through

American data centers in just seven states are reportedly using more water than all the cities in California – TechRadar
Data centers in seven states consume 10.4 million acre-feet of water [from TechRadar]

The Great Mayfly Swarms of Lake Erie – National Parks Conservation Association
Summer mayflies along Lake Erie’s coastline may be nasty and annoying, but they share glad tidings about environmental recovery. NPCA played a role. [from National