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