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

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