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