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