Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Walt Walker

TYLin

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Talia London

The Common Acre

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Guadalupe F

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Olga Cano

HUD

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Roland Jones

CIS

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Aria Harris

TYLin

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

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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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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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