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