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