Color Of Water

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

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Walt Walker

TYLin

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Esteban Ortiz

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

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Paula Buchanan

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

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Aria Harris

TYLin

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Afia Zakiya

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

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Victor Galvan

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

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Benu Amun Ra

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

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Talia London

The Common Acre

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Roland Jones

CIS

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Olga Cano

HUD

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

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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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