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

California’s push to limit groundwater pumping could leave small farmers in the dust – Los Angeles Times
According to a new report, California groundwater regulations threaten to put many small farms out of business. [from Los Angeles Times]

A simple idea to bring clean drinking water to U.S. homes at a lower cost – Sustainability Accelerator
[from Sustainability Accelerator]

New federal law could bring running water to tribal homes, but states have concerns – NPR
More than 10,000 homes on Southwestern Indian reservations lack running water. This despite tribes substantial water rights. A new solution is being held up as