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