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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as