Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Newsha Ajami
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Guadalupe Fernandez
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Berhanu Sinshaw
University of California Merced
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Angela Guyadeen
NRDC
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Alai Reyes-Santos
Alaí Community Consulting
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Talia London
The Common Acre
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Shama Perveen
Ceres
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Olga Morales
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Jasmine Walker
Ohio Environmental Council
Olga Cano
HUD
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Alastair Bitsóí
Near the Water Media & Communications Group
Nieves Vazquez
Water For People
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Maritza Mendoza
Empower DC
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Moisés Moreno-Rivera
Trust for Public Land
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Walt Walker
TYLin
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Direlle Calica
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Ayako Tischler
Xylem
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Aria Harris
TYLin
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Roland Jones
CIS
Heather Tanana
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Hayat Rasul
LA County
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Portia Shepherd
Blackbelt Women Rising
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
trending topics
These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.
Video Library
Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.
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!
Are you a current member?
Can’t access your email? Get in touch with us!
Are you a journalist?
Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.
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