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.

explore the Color of Water directory

experts across the country

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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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