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