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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as