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Home / Blogs / Celebrating Will Avila and Bill Ferrell – Taste DC Watershed Champions
June 22, 2026
Will Avila (left) and Bill Ferrell (right)
The Alliance’s annual Taste celebration presents an opportunity for like-minded clean water advocates to gather and celebrate our beautiful watershed and all we have accomplished to protect it. Each year at the Taste, the Alliance recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Chesapeake watershed through innovative thinking and developing impactful partnerships. We’re thrilled to award Will and Bill as our DC Watershed Champions!
“Uncle” Bill is a constant in every team member’s life, both as a no-nonsense part coach, part manager, part mentor, and part disciplinarian, but also as a rock of support who will always be there. After serving 35 years in prison, Bill came out to a totally different world, but he didn’t let that stop him. Bill trained to become one of only a handful of people certified by the DC Government’s Department of the Environment as an environmentally-friendly Riversmart contractor, and continued to grow his landscaping and native plant knowledge across the ensuing years. Bill is a dependable, hardworking, and purpose-driven leader.
Will and Bill have both made significant contributions to the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay through the installation and maintenance of GSI practices in Washington, DC. The work they have done to guide returning citizens towards careers in green infrastructure has everlasting ripple effects across not just their own teams, but the Alliance and the DC community.
Join us as Alliance CEO, Kate Fritz, sits down with Will and Bill to discuss their work in DC and with the Alliance.
Kate: What does it mean for you both to receive this award this year?
Bill: It’s been an honor, and a surprise. It’s so exciting to be noticed, to be singled out and saying that your efforts to help protect the watershed have been noticed. The cooperation, the interaction with the guys coming out of incarceration, as well as the residents within the DC area who have joined in and come out and [want to contribute] helps the environment and helps us keep it clean. So we’re going to take this moment just to thank you.
Will: For me it means a great deal. Back in my middle school and high school days, I was part of the student conservation association, and working with the trails and also in Rock Creek Park, was definitely something that helped me cope with a lot of stuff that was going on in my life. I always had Beach Drive and always had Rock Creek Park. So, it means a lot to be able to contribute. Sometimes when we’re in these gardens and we find AC units and everything else in there, it’s like, “why are we doing this?” But in the end, you do hear those stories about, “thank you so much.” This is really impacting. I get to talk and teach now to my children about these practices as we’re walking around. It’s definitely an honor. Thank you so much.
Kate: Can you talk a little bit about why you chose to work with the Alliance and to collaborate with us on some of the work in DC?
Bill: They’re good folks that work with the Alliance. I was introduced to the Alliance years ago, and Jamie Alberti [Green Infrastructure Program Director] I met first. Her dedication and enthusiasm alone just rubbed off on me and I began to seek training and how to design. I started designing basic residential BayScapes and rain gardens. Now we do a little more than just cutting grass. We do maintenance. We do building. We plant identify. We understand erosion, sediment, species of plants and where they should go, and understand filter base. The Alliance has built our toolbox to the max. It’s just that impact alone that continues to lead us to seek more, to learn more, and to contribute more.
Will: Working with the Alliance has been something I didn’t know I would love. I know when I started this company, I received a lot of closed doors. I know I wanted to do these things [landscaping] and I know I wanted to hire returning citizens to help them and support them. So, when I got the chance to meet Jamie and meet the Alliance I was a bit nervous and skeptical, because I’m going to get the door closed on me.
We wanted to learn more about the gardens and our community, and I was received with open arms. I felt for the first time that somebody was giving me that chance as well. As I started to scale up, I really wanted to see what this garners and I heard about RiverSmart Homes. I signed up for the training and since then I’ve seen nothing but love and care and support to clean decisions, and help for others to grow. I work with the Alliance because what they are teaching me and what I’m learning also is able to transcend into others and to my family to the housing.
Visit our Taste landing page to leave a personalized message for Will and Bill, and all of our other award winners.
Congratulate Our Winners
Congrats, Will and Bill! We can’t wait to celebrate with you at our annual Taste: Celebrate the Chesapeake event on September 17, from 6-8 pm at The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital.
Learn more and Get Your Taste Tickets
Taste of the Chesapeake
