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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they