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