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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they