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