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