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