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