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