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