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