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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as