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

Day laborers face hardships in the aftermath of Altadena fire, study reveals – CaloNews.com
A new report shows that many day laborers who worked in debris cleanup and recovery after the January 2025 wildfire in Altadena often worked through

American data centers in just seven states are reportedly using more water than all the cities in California – TechRadar
Data centers in seven states consume 10.4 million acre-feet of water [from TechRadar]

The Great Mayfly Swarms of Lake Erie – National Parks Conservation Association
Summer mayflies along Lake Erie’s coastline may be nasty and annoying, but they share glad tidings about environmental recovery. NPCA played a role. [from National