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