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