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

How a Michigan Supreme Court decision on a Line 5 permit might ripple beyond the pipeline – Interlochen Public Radio
Justices vacated a permit for the pipeline, while also issuing a consequential ruling for state environmental reviews on several fronts — including the state’s public

New Park Bench Monitors Offer a Pathway to Air Pollution Solutions – The Washington Informer
The District added four Village Green monitors in May to increase air quality data accessibility for residents in underserved wards. [from The Washington Informer]

New Colorado River plan causes concern and uncertainty for some tribal nations in Arizona – KNAU Arizona Public Radio
The federal framework could result in steep cuts to Arizona’s share of river water. Some Native American communities could be impacted. [from KNAU Arizona Public