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