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

300 Million Gallons of Raw Sewage and a Nation's Crumbling Pipes: America's Wastewater Infrastructure Is Failing in Real Time – Nature World News
Hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River after a major pipe collapse, exposing America’s worsening wastewater infrastructure crisis. [from

Native American Tribes Came Together to Secure Their Rights to Colorado River Water. Four States Are Stalling the Deal. – ProPublica
Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely

Millions of Americans still live without running water. What it will take to plug the water gap – Straight Arrow
Millions of Americans still lack running water, forcing families to haul every drop as aging systems, high costs and poor data tracking widen the gap.