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
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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