Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Gabe Vasquez

US Congress

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Alai Reyes-Santos

University of Oregon

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Walt Walker

TYLin

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Talia London

The Common Acre

Aria Harris

TYLin

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Alastair Bitsóí

Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Olga Cano

HUD

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Roland Jones

CIS

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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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