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