Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Walt Walker

TYLin

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Talia London

The Common Acre

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Roland Jones

CIS

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Olga Cano

HUD

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Guadalupe F

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Aria Harris

TYLin

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

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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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