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