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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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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