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