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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as