Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
Walt Walker
TYLin
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
Direlle Calica
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
Alai Reyes-Santos
Alaí Community Consulting
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Moisés Moreno-Rivera
Trust for Public Land
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
Portia Shepherd
Blackbelt Women Rising
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Aria Harris
TYLin
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
Talia London
The Common Acre
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Newsha Ajami
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Alastair Bitsóí
Near the Water Media & Communications Group
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
Olga Morales Pate
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Ayako Tischler
Xylem
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Maritza Mendoza
Empower DC
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Angela Guyadeen
NRDC
Heather Tanana
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Shama Perveen
Ceres
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Jasmine Walker
Ohio Environmental Council
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Roland Jones
CIS
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Nieves Vazquez
Water For People
Olga Cano
HUD
trending topics
These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.
Video Library
Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.
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!
Are you a current member?
Can’t access your email? Get in touch with us!
Are you a journalist?
Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.
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]