Color Of Water

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

Talia London

The Common Acre

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Andrea León-Grossmann

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Victor Galvan

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

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Paula Buchanan

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

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Olga Cano

HUD

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Roland Jones

CIS

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Afia Zakiya

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

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Aria Harris

TYLin

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Benu Amun Ra

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

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Walt Walker

TYLin

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Esteban Ortiz

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

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

trending topics

These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.

Video Library

Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.

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

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!

Are you a current member?

Update your color of water profile.

Can’t access your email?  Get in touch with us!

Are you a journalist?

Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.

What are Color of Water members talking about?