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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as