Color Of Water

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

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Talia London

The Common Acre

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Walt Walker

TYLin

Roland Jones

CIS

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Paula Buchanan

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

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Andrea León-Grossmann

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Aria Harris

TYLin

Victor Galvan

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

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Benu Amun Ra

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

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Esteban Ortiz

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

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Olga Cano

HUD

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Afia Zakiya

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

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

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?