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