Color Of Water

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

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Talia London

The Common Acre

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Olga Cano

HUD

Aria Harris

TYLin

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Afia Zakiya

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

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Paula Buchanan

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

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Guadalupe F

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Victor Galvan

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

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Roland Jones

CIS

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Esteban Ortiz

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

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Walt Walker

TYLin

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Benu Amun Ra

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

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

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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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