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