Color Of Water

Elevating Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other voices of color to change the narrative around water.

Breanna Gonzalez

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Billie Li

Wright-Pierce

Angela M Chalk

Healthy Community Resources Services

Heather Tanana

University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Crystal Sanders-Alvarado

Seaworthy

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Usman Mahmood

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Veronica Garibay

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Parsa Saffarinia

University of California, Davis

Brenda Coley

Milwaukee Water Commons

Arsum Pathak

National Wildlife Federation

Shandin Pete

University of British Columbia

Marc Oliver Quijano

Jacobs

Olga Cano

HUD

Nicole Chavas

Greenprint Partners

Jessica Thrasher

Colorado State University

Oday Salim

University of Michigan Law School

Alex Ortiz

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Chauncey Foster

we.grow.eco

Julian Gonzalez

Earthjustice

Shama Perveen

Ceres

Jazmin Ricks

University of Pennsylvania

Rachele Lopez

Justice Outside

Berhanu Sinshaw

University of California Merced

Lucero Sanchez

San Diego Coastkeeper

Danielle Rivera

University of California Berkeley

Julia Fay Bernal

Pueblo Action Alliance

Esteban Ortiz

The Gorge Association of Aspirations/La Asociacion de Aspiraciones del Gorge

Alyssa Senturk

California Water Data Consortium

Dezaraye Bagalayos

Allensworth Progressive Association

Jo Banner

The Descendants Project

Nieves Vazquez

Water For People

Sanjiv Sinha

Corvias Infrastructure Solutions, LLC.

Sri Vedachalam

Cisolutions

Charming Evelyn

OceanWell Water

Jacob Bernal

American Rivers

Victor Galvan

Denver Mayor's Office for Climate Action, Sustainability and Resilience

Cyatharine Alias

Center for Neighborhood Technology

Olga Morales

Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated

Angela Mooney D’Arcy

Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples

Nusrat Molla

Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University

Kabir Thatte

The Vessel Collective

Bridget Ray

Washington State Department of Commerce

Tony Bridges

The Maryland General Assembly

Analise Rivero

California Trout

Harshini Ratnayaka

Save the Dunes

Aria Harris

TYLin

Pedro Hernandez

GreenLatinos

Elizabeth Ruiz

CA State Water Resources Control Board

Dira Johanif

Charles River Climate Compact

Priscila Alves

University of Maryland

Sarah Traore

The University of Texas at Austin

Jasmine Walker

Ohio Environmental Council

Paula Buchanan

National Center for Domestic Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia Climate School

Felice Green

Milwaukee Water Commons

Carolan Sonderegger

For Love of Water

Rhea Drozdenko

Connecticut River Conservancy

Talia London

The Common Acre

Nikki Tulley

University of Arizona

Fernando Ramirez

Bridges 2023 International

Crystal Davis

National Parks Conservation Association

Diana Piña Yitbarek

NC Department of Environmental Quality

Sandi Matsumoto

The Nature Conservancy

Nureen Faiza Anisha

Oregon State University

Val Schull

GreenLatinos

Portia Shepherd

Blackbelt Women Rising

Ean Tafoya

GreenLatinos

Angel Santiago Fernandez-Bou

Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Charles Cassagnol

Western Ecology, LLC

Nasim Pica

WSP in the U.S.

Sapna Mulki

Environmental Policy Innovation Center

Martin Griffin

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

Adriana Renteria

State Water Board

Michael Méndez

UC Irvine

Ruthie Redmond

UC Berkeley

Vicky Espinoza

CaliWaterAg

Maritza Mendoza

Empower DC

Quentin Stubbs

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Cate Caldwell

Illinois Environmental Council

Alastair Bitsóí

Near the Water Media & Communications Group

Rob Larson

Grand Valley State University

Jaiden Willeto

Northern Arizona University / K'é Infoshop

Walt Walker

TYLin

Susana De Anda

Community Water Center

Allen Townsend

World Wildlife Fund

Guadalupe F

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Angela Guyadeen

NRDC

Hayat Rasul

LA County

Andrea León-Grossmann

Vote Solar

Sonali Abraham

Pacific Institute

Ciara Horne

SBG Digital

Carlos Moran

Northeast Trees

Cindy Donis

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice

Bleu Adams

IndigeHub

Oluwole (OJ) McFoy

Houston Public Works

André Sanchez

California Wilderness Coalition

Marccus Hendricks

University of Maryland - College Park

Daniel Cordalis

Native American Rights Fund

Maisah Khan

Regenerative Agriculture Foundation

Xochitl Bervera

Near Futures Projects/Water is Life Oysters

Pallavi Bharadwaj

SEG

Rene Henery

Trout Unlimited/ University of Nevada, Reno

Cate Mingoya-LaFortune

Groundwork USA

Chriscilia Cox

SUMA Consulting LLC

Daniela Sherrill

ASU / AZ Water for All

Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš

Azul

Chakena Sims

NRDC

Nathaniel I Kollie

University of California Santa Cruz

Ashwin Dhanasekar

Brown and Caldwell

Cheyenne Holliday

Verde

Rhysea Agrawal

The Xylom

Maria Elena Kennedy

Kennedy Communications, Inc

Bre’Shaun Reddick

Alliance for the Great Lakes

Patricia Lindsay-Harvey

Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority

Moisés Moreno-Rivera

Trust for Public Land

Joaquin Esquivel

California State Water Resources Control Board

Tanner Yess

Groundwork USA

Ed Marin

Louisville Water

Jahan Taganova

City and County of Denver

Briana Muñoz

Pacific Coast Carbon LLC

Gia Moreno

Hood Community Council

Beth Roach

Sierra Club

Nicole Nelson

Equity Legal Services, Inc

Direlle Calica

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI)

Ani Jayakaran

Washington State University

Damian Shapes Padilla

Spirit Rock Consulting

Kedar Dabhadkar

Lam Research

Ayako Tischler

Xylem

Khalid Osman

Stanford University

Sidney Opiyo

University of California, Santa Cruz

Frank Ruiz

The Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz

Joy Banner

The Descendants Project

Benu Amun Ra

S.A.C.R.Ed Eco-Center

Alai Reyes-Santos

Alaí Community Consulting

Nadine Robertson

Veolia North America

Nahal G. Ipakchi

BluePoint Planning

Mahtaab Bagherzadeh

NWF/Clean Water for All

Roland Jones

CIS

Cathie Chavez-Morris

Equidad Group

Sydney Garcia

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Huda Alkaff

Wisconsin Green Muslims

Tiffany Sevilla

Greenprint Partners

Jose Luis Ortiz y Muniz

Greenroots Institute

Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud

Bayou City Waterkeeper

Arohi Sharma

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Jeremy Orr

Earthjustice

John Echohawk

Native American Rights Fund

Emily Warren Armitano

Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation

Jessica Dandridge-Smith

The Water Collaborative

Silvia R. Gonzalez

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute

Keiko Wilkins

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Andrian Lee

BCM Environmental and Land Law, PLLC

Alondra Hernandez-Bose

WEAT

Kimbaya Carriere

Nuxalk First Nation

Vinicius Taguchi

North Carolina State University

Cheyanne Harris

Brown and Caldwell

Ehab Meselhe

Tulane University

Nataly Escobedo Garcia

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Mallika Nocco

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Thea Louis

MSC Industrial Supply Co.

José M. Rodríguez-Flores

California State University, Monterey Bay

Ngodoo Atume

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Carlos Calderon

West Michigan Environmental Action Council

Lenise Marrero

Brown and Caldwell

Wendy “Poppy” Ferris-George

Ferris Institute

Pita Juarez

Comms Consultant

Temiloluwa Akinyemi

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Tanasia Swift

Billion Oyster Project

Newsha Ajami

Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Pablo Ortiz

Union of Concerned Scientists

Afia Zakiya

Independent Africana Studies and EJ scholar-activist, currently Executive Director of Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation

Mariana Del Valle Prieto Cervantes

GreenLatinos

Emma Robbins

The Chapter House

Monica Driggers

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance

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.

explore the Color of Water directory

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?

Update your color of water profile.

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?