Color Of Water

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

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Afia Zakiya

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

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Roland Jones

CIS

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Olga Morales Pate

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Victor Galvan

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

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Talia London

The Common Acre

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Benu Amun Ra

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

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Olga Cano

HUD

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Esteban Ortiz

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

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Paula Buchanan

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

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Walt Walker

TYLin

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Aria Harris

TYLin

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

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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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