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