Color Of Water
Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.
Sri Vedachalam
Cisolutions
Newsha Ajami
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Benu Amun Ra
S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center
Esteban Ortiz
The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge
Cyatharine Alias
Center for Neighborhood Technology
Xochitl Bervera
Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters
Olga Cano
HUD
Vicky Espinoza
CaliWaterAg
Shandin Pete
University of British Columbia
Joaquin Esquivel
California State Water Resources Control Board
Brenda Coley
Milwaukee Water Commons
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Cathie Chavez-Morris
Equidad Group
Kimbaya Carriere
Nuxalk First Nation
John Echohawk
Native American Rights Fund
Elizabeth Ruiz
CA State Water Resources Control Board
Tanasia Swift
Billion Oyster Project
Roland Jones
CIS
Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Tiffany Sevilla
Greenprint Partners
Carlos Calderon
West Michigan Environmental Action Council
Khalid Osman
Stanford University
Jeremy Orr
Earthjustice
Frank Ruiz
The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz
Charming Evelyn
OceanWell Water
Jasmine Walker
Ohio Environmental Council
Carlos Moran
Northeast Trees
Talia London
The Common Acre
Bleu Adams
IndigeHub
Ciara Horne
SBG Digital
Alondra Hernandez-Bose
WEAT
Nikki Tulley
University of Arizona
Nicole Nelson
Equity Legal Services, Inc
Sapna Mulki
Environmental Policy Innovation Center
Portia Shepherd
Blackbelt Women Rising
Veronica Garibay
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Guadalupe F
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Shama Perveen
Ceres
Olga Morales
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated
Emma Robbins
The Chapter House
Sanjiv Sinha
Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.
Lenise Marrero
Brown and Caldwell
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
Groundwork USA
Maisah Khan
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
André Sanchez
California Wilderness Coalition
Ean Tafoya
GreenLatinos
Chriscilia Cox
SUMA Consulting LLC
Analise Rivero
California Trout
Breanna Gonzalez
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes
GreenLatinos
Julian Gonzalez
Earthjustice
Bre’Shaun Reddick
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Paula Buchanan
National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School
Tanner Yess
Groundwork USA
Fernando Ramirez
Bridges 2023 International
Tony Bridges
The Maryland General Assembly
Felice Green
Milwaukee Water Commons
Rob Larson
Grand Valley State University
Pita Juarez
Comms Consultant
Julia Fay Bernal
Pueblo Action Alliance
Jacob Bernal
American Rivers
Pedro Hernandez
GreenLatinos
Sidney Opiyo
University of California, Santa Cruz
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Cate Caldwell
Illinois Environmental Council
Crystal Davis
National Parks Conservation Association
Rhysea Agrawal
The Xylom
Charles Cassagnol
Western Ecology, LLC
Jo Banner
The Descendants Project
Chauncey Foster
we.grow.eco
Oday Salim
University of Michigan Law School
Nahal G. Ipakchi
BluePoint Planning
Nusrat Molla
Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University
Sydney Garcia
The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Val Schull
GreenLatinos
Victor Galvan
Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience
Diana Piña Yitbarek
NC Department of Environmental Quality
Aria Harris
TYLin
Moisés Moreno-Rivera
Trust for Public Land
Beth Roach
Sierra Club
Rhea Drozdenko
Connecticut River Conservancy
Damian Shapes Padilla
Spirit Rock Consulting
Maria Elena Kennedy
Kennedy Communications, Inc
Jazmin Ricks
University of Pennsylvania
Michael Méndez
UC Irvine
Hayat Rasul
LA County
Daniel Cordalis
Native American Rights Fund
Nathaniel I Kollie
University of California Santa Cruz
Walt Walker
TYLin
Pallavi Bharadwaj
SEG
Angela Mooney D’Arcy
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples
Bridget Ray
Washington State Department of Commerce
Jahan Taganova
City and County of Denver
Jessica Thrasher
Colorado State University
Nataly Escobedo Garcia
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Jessica Dandridge-Smith
The Water Collaborative
Carolan Sonderegger
For Love of Water
Adriana Renteria
State Water Board
Oluwole (OJ) McFoy
Houston Public Works
Andrea León-Grossmann
Vote Solar
Usman Mahmood
Bayou City Waterkeeper
Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz
Greenroots Institute
Rachele Lopez
Justice Outside
Ayako Tischler
Xylem
Alastair Bitsóí
Near the Water Media & Communications Group
Ruthie Redmond
UC Berkeley
Kabir Thatte
The Vessel Collective
Dezaraye Bagalayos
Allensworth Progressive Association
Mallika Nocco
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Alyssa Senturk
California Water Data Consortium
Priscila Alves
University of Maryland
Jaiden Willeto
Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop
Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš
Azul
Marc Oliver Quijano
Jacobs
Rene Henery
Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno
Ngodoo Atume
UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Martin Griffin
Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District
Alex Ortiz
Austin Water and Wastewater Commission
Quentin Stubbs
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Nicole Chavas
Greenprint Partners
Briana Muñoz
Pacific Coast Carbon LLC
Cheyenne Holliday
Verde
Huda Alkaff
Wisconsin Green Muslims
Patricia Lindsay-Harvey
Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority
Heather Tanana
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Pablo Ortiz
Union of Concerned Scientists
Joy Banner
The Descendants Project
Kedar Dabhadkar
Lam Research
Thea Louis
MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Sarah Traore
The University of Texas at Austin
Nureen Faiza Anisha
Oregon State University
Crystal Sanders-Alvarado
Seaworthy
Parsa Saffarinia
University of California, Davis
Monica Driggers
Massachusetts Rivers Alliance
Cheyanne Harris
Brown and Caldwell
Temiloluwa Akinyemi
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sandi Matsumoto
The Nature Conservancy
Silvia R. Gonzalez
UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute
Ed Marin
Louisville Water
Harshini Ratnayaka
Save the Dunes
Mahtaab Bagherzadeh
NWF/Clean Water for All
Vinicius Taguchi
North Carolina State University
Keiko Wilkins
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Afia Zakiya
Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation
Arsum Pathak
National Wildlife Federation
Angela M Chalk
Healthy Community Resources Services
Andrian Lee
BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC
Nieves Vazquez
Water For People
Chakena Sims
NRDC
Maritza Mendoza
Empower DC
Nadine Robertson
Veolia North America
Marccus Hendricks
University of Maryland - College Park
Arohi Sharma
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Danielle Rivera
University of California Berkeley
Ehab Meselhe
Tulane University
Ashwin Dhanasekar
Brown and Caldwell
Susana De Anda
Community Water Center
Alai Reyes-Santos
Alaí Community Consulting
Nasim Pica
WSP in the U.S.
Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)
Gia Moreno
Hood Community Council
Billie Li
Wright-Pierce
Emily Warren Armitano
Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
Angela Guyadeen
NRDC
Berhanu Sinshaw
University of California Merced
Direlle Calica
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)
Sonali Abraham
Pacific Institute
José M. Rodríguez-Flores
California State University, Monterey Bay
Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George
Ferris Institute
Allen Townsend
World Wildlife Fund
Daniela Sherrill
ASU / AZ Water for All
Lucero Sanchez
San Diego Coastkeeper
Dira Johanif
Charles River Climate Compact
Cindy Donis
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Ani Jayakaran
Washington State University
trending topics
These are the top topics that reporters, decision makers, and partners are looking for experts to speak about.
Video Library
Watch water experts share their stories and perspectives with reporters, event audiences, podcast hosts, and more.
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!
Are you a current member?
Can’t access your email? Get in touch with us!
Are you a journalist?
Download the directory and opt-in to get pitches featuring Color of Water stories.
What are Color of Water members talking about?

How a Michigan Supreme Court decision on a Line 5 permit might ripple beyond the pipeline – Interlochen Public Radio
Justices vacated a permit for the pipeline, while also issuing a consequential ruling for state environmental reviews on several fronts — including the state’s public

New Park Bench Monitors Offer a Pathway to Air Pollution Solutions – The Washington Informer
The District added four Village Green monitors in May to increase air quality data accessibility for residents in underserved wards. [from The Washington Informer]

New Colorado River plan causes concern and uncertainty for some tribal nations in Arizona – KNAU Arizona Public Radio
The federal framework could result in steep cuts to Arizona’s share of river water. Some Native American communities could be impacted. [from KNAU Arizona Public