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