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

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]