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

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