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