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