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