Color Of Water

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

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Afia Zakiya

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

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Victor Galvan

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

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Olga Cano

HUD

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Roland Jones

CIS

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Aria Harris

TYLin

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Esteban Ortiz

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

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Talia London

The Common Acre

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Benu Amun Ra

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

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Walt Walker

TYLin

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Paula Buchanan

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

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

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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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