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

AOC holds jar of brown water from next to Meta’s Georgia data center at EPA hearing: Residents ‘rely on bottled water to drink and prepare meals’ – AOL
Neighbors of a massive Meta data center can’t drink their water, and their water bills are set to skyrocket. [from AOL.com]

Environmental justice raised over data centers targeting rural NM – KRWG Public Media
GreenLatinos believes states should approach regulation of artificial intelligence data centers from a mindset of community protection and adopt a high bar for regulation. [from

'Bringing these worlds together' – Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
[from Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability]