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