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

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