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

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

Colorado River Water Access Calls for this Sensible Solution | Opinion – Arizona Institute for Resilience
The old ways of managing the shrinking Colorado River aren't helping Arizona. But there is a way all of the compact states could find a
