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