Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Guadalupe Fernandez

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Roland Jones

CIS

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Walt Walker

TYLin

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Andrea León-Grossmann

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Aria Harris

TYLin

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Olga Cano

HUD

Talia London

The Common Acre

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

trending topics

These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.

Video Library

Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.

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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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!

Are you a current member?

Update your color of water profile.

Can’t access your email?  Get in touch with us!

Are you a journalist?

Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.

What are Color of Water members talking about?