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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they