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