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