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

How a Michigan Supreme Court decision on a Line 5 permit might ripple beyond the pipeline – Interlochen Public Radio
Justices vacated a permit for the pipeline, while also issuing a consequential ruling for state environmental reviews on several fronts — including the state’s public

New Park Bench Monitors Offer a Pathway to Air Pollution Solutions – The Washington Informer
The District added four Village Green monitors in May to increase air quality data accessibility for residents in underserved wards. [from The Washington Informer]

New Colorado River plan causes concern and uncertainty for some tribal nations in Arizona – KNAU Arizona Public Radio
The federal framework could result in steep cuts to Arizona’s share of river water. Some Native American communities could be impacted. [from KNAU Arizona Public