Color Of Water

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

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Walt Walker

TYLin

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Talia London

The Common Acre

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Roland Jones

CIS

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Olga Cano

HUD

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Aria Harris

TYLin

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Esteban Ortiz

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

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Afia Zakiya

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

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Paula Buchanan

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

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Benu Amun Ra

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

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Victor Galvan

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

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

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?