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

Day laborers face hardships in the aftermath of Altadena fire, study reveals – CaloNews.com
A new report shows that many day laborers who worked in debris cleanup and recovery after the January 2025 wildfire in Altadena often worked through

American data centers in just seven states are reportedly using more water than all the cities in California – TechRadar
Data centers in seven states consume 10.4 million acre-feet of water [from TechRadar]

The Great Mayfly Swarms of Lake Erie – National Parks Conservation Association
Summer mayflies along Lake Erie’s coastline may be nasty and annoying, but they share glad tidings about environmental recovery. NPCA played a role. [from National