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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they