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