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

VOICES: Protecting what we love in the age of AI – Planet Detroit
The director of Michigan Green Muslims offers a faith-based perspective on why Great Lakes communities are pushing back against data centers. [from Planet Detroit]

How more than 240 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Potomac River – NPR
NPR's Erika Ryan reports from the site of one of the nation's largest sewage spills ever — just outside of Washington, D.C. — in January.

Nearly half of L.A. County’s pavement may be unnecessary, new map finds – Los Angeles Times
Researchers have released the first parcel-level analysis to map all paved surfaces across L.A. County. In particular, large parking lots are ripe for change, they