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

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]