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