What We Are
We are a nonprofit organization, created by DC Water in November 2016. Our objective is to relieve the strain on DC Water ratepayers by marketing DC Water’s products and technologies, generating revenue and cost savings as a result.
What We Do
Blue Drop is DC Water’s all-purpose arm for non-ratepayer revenue. We manage projects and customer relationships to maximize DC Water’s investments in its facilities, processes and intellectual property. Our premier programs are:
- Marketing and selling Bloom, DC Water’s Class A biosolids
- Managing the venue rentals of HQO, DC Water’s headquarters building
- Marketing DC Water’s Mobility Solutions Application and Event Management System
Blue Drop Staff
David Gadis
Chairman
David Gadis is the Chairperson of the Blue Drop Board of Directors. Mr. Gadis became General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of DC Water in June 2018.
Immediately before joining DC Water, Mr. Gadis worked as the Chief Revenue Officer for U.S.A. Track and Field. Prior to that, Mr. Gadis served as Executive Vice President of Veolia North America where he led North American business development operations. He was responsible for corporate growth and $3,000,000,000 in revenue. Gadis served as a key consultant to municipalities and Mayors as they developed utility plans to address infrastructure improvement needs and how to save money in operating their utilities.
Gadis also worked as CEO and President of Veolia Water Indianapolis, LLC, formerly known as the Indianapolis Water Company. He was its first African American CEO/President and the first African American CEO to lead a major utility in Indianapolis. In that position, he managed the operations of the city’s water utility that employed more than 600 employees and served more than 1 million customers and 360,000 ratepayers. Gadis was also responsible for field services, engineering/construction, procurement, fleet, warehousing, and plant production. He was also credited with turning the customer service department into a world class operation, answering 90% of its 80,000 calls per month in 30 seconds or less.
With Gadis’ leadership, Veolia received the United States Conference of Mayor’s 2006 Public/Private Partnership Award, as well as the Mayor of Indianapolis’ Celebration of Diversity Award and the Indiana Minority Supplier Development Council’s Circle of Excellence Award three (3) times. Gadis worked with his colleagues at Veolia to increase procurement opportunities for diverse firms by 600%, from 5% to 35%, which represents more than $40 million annually.
Chris Peot
President
Chris Peot is the interim President of Blue Drop and the Director of Recovery and Wastewater Treatment for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water).
As the Authority’s resident expert on wastewater resource recovery and a champion of our Bloom soil amendment, Chris has the technical expertise and leadership acumen to support and grow our Bloom sales and advance our other Blue Drop initiatives. These include a growing number of requests for HQO event space rentals, as well as our Wendy the Waterdrop children’s books and an expanded line of Blue Drop products. Since joining DC Water in November 1999, Mr. Peot has served the Authority in several roles and established himself as a noted expert and leader within the water sector.
Victoria Alleyne
Bloom Sales Manager
Victoria is the Bloom Sales Manager, working with customers across Maryland. Prior to Bloom, Victoria spent more than four years at Maryland Environmental Services, where she worked in recycling and waste reduction and later transitioned into organics recycling, including the marketing and distribution of Leafgro.
Victoria is enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Maryland and holds a BS in Environmental Sciences. Victoria is of Trinidadian heritage, was born in the US and grew up in Barbados, where she developed her love of plants.
Lovesha Graham
Senior Director, Operations
As the Senior Director of Operations at Blue Drop, Lovesha brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to her role. Having previously managed support functions for the IT Department and provided executive-level assistance to the Vice President at DC Water, she has a deep understanding of the organization’s operations and the skills necessary to drive efficiency.
In addition to her responsibilities in running the day-to-day operations of Blue Drop, Lovesha also holds oversight of the HQO Event program. With her in-depth knowledge of the facility and her dedication to providing exceptional service, she is well-equipped to assist clients in booking their events and ensuring their success.
Holly Kiser
Agricultural Liaison
A self-described “farm kid,” Holly grew up on a dairy farm in Carroll County; she now lives and works with her husband Glenn, children Tristan and Rowan and their furry friends on Radley Bend, a multi-generational farm producing hay, dairy, and cattle and pigs her kids tend as 4H projects.
“I’m excited to introduce farmers to Bloom, an exceptional, affordable and natural fertilizer option,” says Holly.
Adam Lawrence
Administrative Coordinator
Adam is a graduate of Morgan State University with a bachelors in Health Education and a concentration in Community Health. He previously worked at National Institutes of Health for 12 years. Adam is an assistant football coach for Ron Brown Preparatory School in NE, DC. He enjoys watching and playing sports and spending time with his wife and two sons.
Adam is responsible for the administrative processes, functions, and activities of Blue Drop and supports special projects across the organization.
April Thompson
Senior Director, Bloom
April Thompson has more than 15 years’ experience in marketing, communications and project management. Prior to joining Blue Drop, April led the knowledge management team for the Feed the Future Knowledge Driven Agriculture Development project, which worked to harness and share best practices in global agriculture and food security.
April has worked in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia and South America over the course of her career, consulting for various nonprofits and small businesses domestically and internationally. As Director of Marketing and Communications for GoodWeave, a market-driven nonprofit working to end child labor, April oversaw a national awareness campaign, including the rebranding of its certification program and the launch of a marketing initiative to promote certified rug sales in Macy’s.
Passionate about urban agriculture, April is an amateur forager, a founding member of the Bruce Monroe Community Garden and a graduate of the UDC master gardener program. A former freelance journalist, April still enjoys writing about sustainable lifestyle issues in her spare time. She holds an MBA and an MA in International Development from American University and a BA from the University of Virginia.
Raul Buddle
Event Coordinator
Raul is an experienced and versatile event coordinator with over 10 years of experience in the customer service and education industries. He is skilled in managing office operations. He is also an excellent communicator and problem solver with a proven track record of success.
As an Event Coordinator at HQO Events, Raul is responsible for coordinating all aspects of events, from planning to execution and evaluation. He works with clients to understand their needs and create events that meet their expectations. Raul has a passion for life and bringing people together. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his dog Maison exploring the outdoors while mellowing out to R&B or Neo-Soul.
Kelly Trimble
Director of Events
Kelly Trimble has over 10 years of experience in event planning and project management. Prior to joining Blue Drop, Kelly worked for the Washington Nationals and D.C. United running both gameday events and private events. While working with the Nats, Kelly assisted with planning gameday events for the MLB All-Star Game in 2018 and the MLB World Series in 2019. During her time at D.C. United, Kelly assisted with private events sales as well as gameday activations and assisted with planning elements for the 2023 MLS All-Star Game.
As the Director of Events, Kelly is responsible for overseeing all aspects of private events including sales, marketing, and event execution for HQO Waterside. She is committed to helping the HQO Event program grow through providing high-level experiences to clients. When she’s not working, Kelly enjoys taking long walks with her dog, Scorchy Paws, and traveling to the beach with her family.
Blue Drop Board of Directors
Lavinia Baxter
Senior Legislative Budget and Policy Analyst
Lavinia Baxter serves as the Senior Legislative Budget and Policy analyst with the Prince George’s County Council after having served as the Special Assistant to the Deputy chief Administrative Officer for Government Infrastructure, Technology and Environment in the Office of Prince George’s County Executive under three administrations. In that capacity she focused on water and sewer policy, public works and transportation operations and policy, economic development, constituent issues and special projects; including the formation of the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE). She has also served the County as Special Assistant to the Director of Public Works and Transportation as well as International Business analyst at the Economic Development Corporation where she had the privilege of opening the Africa Trade Office, participating in trade missions to India and Africa, doing business development and assisting in the development of major retail and housing projects throughout the County.
Currently, Ms. Baxter is staff to the Transportation, Infrastructure Energy and Environment Committee where she handles related legislation, policy and budget. Ms. Baxter is a proud resident of Prince George’s County and currently resides in Upper Marlboro.
Robert L. Mallett
Chief Executive Officer, Rabin Martin
Robert L. Mallett guides Rabin Martin’s strategy and drives progress toward improving health for underserved populations globally. Mr. Mallett has a diverse background in law, government, public policy, healthcare and international development. Before joining Rabin Martin, Mr. Mallett was CEO and President of Africare. He has also been a senior corporate executive at two of the world’s largest healthcare companies. He was Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Public & Senior Markets Group at United Healthcare and at Pfizer Inc. he served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy and as President of the Pfizer Foundation. Mr. Mallett served also as a member of the District of Columbia Board of Water and Sewer Authority. He has been in private practice at international law firms in the United States, and served in former President Bill Clinton’s administration as Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and received a law degree from Harvard University.
Michael Sakata
President and CEO, Maryland Transportation Builders & Materials Association
Michael Sakata is the president and CEO of the Maryland Transportation Builders & Materials Association (MTBMA). In this role, he manages all aspects of the association. MTBMA represents over 21,000 workers and business owners in the transportation construction industry and promotes and protects the needs of the transportation construction and materials industry by establishing and maintaining respected relationships with federal, state, and local public officials.
Prior to joining MTBMA, Michael worked as the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s (ARTBA) Vice President, Services & Technology. In this position, he was responsible for managing several major contracts and divisions, the association’s digital technology portfolio and two ARTBA member divisions, as well as serving as the executive director of both the Metropolitan Washington Road & Transportation Association (MWRTBA), an ARTBA-managed chapter affiliation, and the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC). In 2017, Trending40.com recognized Mr. Sakata’s work at MWRTBA and bestowed him with the Top Association & Non-Profit Innovator Award for Executives and in 2020, Mr. Sakata was recognized as one of Daily Record’s “Most Admired CEOs.”
Mr. Sakata serves as Chairman of “The Road Gang,” a fraternal group of public officials and private sector executives involved in transportation infrastructure policy issues in Washington, DC and sits on the Board of Directors of the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Association in Maryland and DC, where he mentors and inspires high school students to pursue careers in the fields of transportation design and construction. Mr. Sakata also sits on the Board of Directors of Suburban Maryland Transportation Alliance and Blue Drop, a non-profit affiliate of DC Water.
Jeffrey F. Thompson
Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, DC Water
Jeffrey F. Thompson serves DC Water as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. In this role, he is tasked with providing leadership and strategic vision to the organization through enhanced operational, managerial, and administrative procedures. Additionally, he is responsible for the oversight of related reporting structures and operational controls and increasing the overall efficiency of operations.
Mr. Thompson brings more than 32 years of engineering expertise and leadership acumen to the Authority. Most recently, he had served as the Assistant General Manager of Operations and Technical Services for the Birmingham (AL) Water Works Board since 2019. In Birmingham, Jeff was responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance and providing safe and reliable drinking water to more than 770,000 customers, across five jurisdictions.
Throughout his career, Mr. Thompson has led the development of numerous strategic plans and directed many large capital programs. He also has extensive experience with water/wastewater operations, engineering, watershed protection, utility maintenance, construction, emergency management, and regulatory compliance.
Mr. Thompson holds an Executive MBA from The University of Alabama, and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Central Florida. He began his career as a Water Resources Engineer for the Walt Disney Company and has served as a water executive in central Florida, New England, Miami, and most recently at Birmingham Water Works, the largest regional utility in Alabama.