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

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