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