Color Of Water

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

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Talia London

The Common Acre

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Roland Jones

CIS

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Paula Buchanan

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

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Esteban Ortiz

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

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Aria Harris

TYLin

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Walt Walker

TYLin

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Afia Zakiya

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

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Andrea León-Grossmann

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Benu Amun Ra

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

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Victor Galvan

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

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Olga Cano

HUD

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

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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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