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

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