Inviting everyone to the table to restore the Chesapeake Bay

I’m on a phone call with Anna Killius, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, when she shares her simple—yet ironclad—tip for success.

“Use every conversation, interview or interaction to begin a relationship,” she advises. “Leave people with a good impression so they remember you. In this field, you’ll continue seeing the same people wearing different hats throughout your career.”

I nod in agreement, having heard similar advice along my own career path—be nice to everyone you work with, because you never know who you will end up working with or for.

Killius has already worn her share of different hats in the Bay restoration world. I first met her when she was an appointed member of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Stakeholders Advisory Committee. At that time, she was managing policy and government affairs at the Virginia-based James River Association (JRA), an organization that she spent over four years with.

“I’m so proud to have developed relationships that have lasted,” Killius says. “I’ve built a network where we trust each other and know how each other works.”

Killius’ networks have stayed with her. She shares that she can still go to Washington, D.C., and pick up conversations right where she left off with colleagues met while working on Capitol Hill for former Maryland Representative John Sarbanes before joining JRA.

“Now we tap into that same network at the Commission,” she says. “They are willing to share knowledge and ideas with us because they trust the Chesapeake Bay Commission.”

Killius has served as executive director at the Chesapeake Bay Commission since January 2023 and has quickly become one of the most respected leaders in Bay restoration. Just a few months into the role, she stepped in as co-chair of the steering committee charged with developing recommendations to guide the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership beyond 2025, ultimately becoming a central figure in the initiative to revise the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. And, just as importantly, I’m proud to call her a friend.

That’s exactly why I jumped at the chance to sit down with her—to talk about her successes, her challenges and the advice she would pass along, especially to other women—as we celebrate Women’s History Month.

“I am here because I had strong, driven women ahead of me that helped pull me up,” Killius says. “That only happens if someone turns around, looks behind them and pulls other women along.”

I ask her to reflect on her favorite personal accomplishment in each of her previous roles. Instead of listing bills passed or funding secured, she simply offers that she is most proud of identifying gaps and then building the knowledge and skills to fill them. I ask her to elaborate.

“We really need someone to step in and become an expert in—or take ownership of—certain areas,” she explains. “In Representative Sarbanes’ office, I became an expert on appropriations. At JRA, I applied that knowledge to the environmental needs we were hearing about. I was able to help navigate Virginia’s appropriations process, organize the asks we were hearing and understand how to answer those requests.”

Before launching her career, Killius graduated from William & Mary Law School, where she was part of their Virginia Coastal Policy Center’s inaugural class. She went on to become a Knauss Fellow, which brought her to Capitol Hill.

Her path, she admits, wasn’t traditional. She never desired to practice law and didn’t come from a physical sciences background like many of the other Knauss Fellows. But she knew she wanted to work in the public sector, and the program offered her a valuable way to get her foot in the door. 

She wasn’t exactly sure though what direction to go in from there.

“We were seeing all these cases about the environment and I wanted to know who was representing the space we all live in,” Killius says.

After nearly five years on Capitol Hill, Killius was ready for a change. The nonstop pace of working on the Hill, combined with the oft slow-moving rhythm of the policy world was exhausting. When she found JRA, it became clear that working at the state and local level was a better fit, both professionally and personally.

But, like many of us, Killius admits she sometimes struggles with imposter syndrome.

“I have my own expectation that I should have all the answers,” she says. “Then I remember that the best legislators don’t have all the answers, but they are the ones that are actively looking for that knowledge and creating those answers.”

When I ask her what she’s most looking forward to now that the Watershed Agreement has been revised, her answer is immediate: new Commission members, new challenges and the opportunity to try new things.

“Over the last three years, we’ve had several membership changes due to retirements and elections, but that means new perspectives to help formulate our priorities,” she says. “We have interesting experiences coming up that will help build a camaraderie. We’re going to Tangier Island and Port Isobel. We get to bring the best of our differences to the table to find a common solution—and we get to apply that in service to the revised Watershed Agreement.”

Killius also points to a broader shift in how the Commission is approaching the revised agreement. While many of the outcomes are similar, the approach to meeting them is totally different.

“We are thinking now about the benefits that are derived from these outcomes—for people, for the ecosystem,” she notes. “For example, with the Public Access Outcome, we are now thinking more holistically about who has access and how do they get there, rather than ‘there is now a new place for people to go to’. And this applies across all the outcomes.”

I ask her what she hopes her lasting impact will be. 

She pauses before answering, “I want to have set a good table.” 

I raise my eyebrows at hearing this, and she continued, explaining that real progress depends on having all voices at the table to create balance. Legislators must juggle competing interests. State and federal agencies carry out defined missions. Nonprofit organizations advocate for the communities and causes they serve. But when these perspectives come together, we find success.

“Be clear in who you represent and the values you serve,” Killius says. “Who you bring to the table will decide if you are successful or not.”

She pauses before adding, “I want to be known for having created the opportunity to have things happen.”