Color Of Water

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

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Afia Zakiya

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

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Benu Amun Ra

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

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Roland Jones

CIS

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Paula Buchanan

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

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Esteban Ortiz

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

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Victor Galvan

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

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Talia London

The Common Acre

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Olga Cano

HUD

Walt Walker

TYLin

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aria Harris

TYLin

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

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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

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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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