anger management professionals · NAMA · Parent Training · Peer Support · Re-entry Specialist · Aug 13, 2025

GCT Specialist Spotlight

Specialist Spotlight on Bilal Willis

anger management professionals · Parenting · Peer Support · Re-entry Specialist · Public Speaker · Aug 13, 2025

Hi Coach B,

We’re thrilled to feature you and your incredible work! This Specialist Spotlight is an opportunity to highlight the amazing work of Growth Central Training Specialists around the world. Please answer the questions below—short or long answers are both welcome. Feel free to have fun with it!

About You

Q: Tell us a little about yourself! Where are you based, and what’s your professional focus?

A: I am based in Thurston County, Washington State. I am a NAMA Certified Anger Management Specialist (CAMS I) and Certified Parent Training Specialist (CPTS I). I am a State-Approved Peer Trainer and the Program Manager for the Department of Corrections CPC training program, which delivers the State Curriculum for becoming a Certified Peer Support Specialist. I am also a DBHR-Approved Mentor, facilitating Train-the-Trainer events and mentoring new and upcoming trainers, as well as an RCPF through CCAR.

I have 28 years of lived experience with the justice system and have turned my life around. I founded a nonprofit focused on holistic family reunification efforts and re-entry that includes tools and works with families for better outcomes. I authored Coach B’s 4 Cycles of Freedom, One Vehicle One Life, and recently released a culturally responsive 48-session parenting workbook called A BLU PRINT for PARENTS (Breaking Cycles).

I am a father of seven, grandfather of four, and I like to spend Sundays with family. In my free time, I host various topics on my YouTube channel PIE Talk Podcast Productions—from empowering, strength-based podcasts to casual, real, and uncut conversations with those who have walked darker paths and come through them: From Prison to Peer Work. I am married to Laycee Willis, who is a CPC and behavioral health advocate in WA State, as well as a NAMA CAMS I, CPTS I, and CCIS I.

Q: What inspired you to pursue Growth Central Training and/or NAMA credentialing, and how has it impacted your current work or mission?

A: What led me to choosing GCT and the credentials provided was the great lack of culturally responsive resources in my county that include parenting and anger management. In my first role as a family navigator and reunification specialist, I encountered many families needing anger management services and parenting skills training. That motivated me to become the resource I couldn’t find locally.

GCT provided the tools, resources, and training I felt would support my community by equipping me with the knowledge and credentials needed to be the best specialist I could be. As a trainer/facilitator myself, I was thoroughly impressed and felt the passion of the presenters, which really helped the information sink in.

Since gaining this credential, I have supported over 15 families and individuals to retain their parental rights, gain tools, and even reunite with their families. I also concluded and published my own parenting manual. My wife was trained by GCT and had nothing but positive things to say—and I now agree!

Q: What’s one of the biggest challenges you face in your work right now?

A: The biggest challenge I face in the community I support is when participants are court-ordered to complete anger management and/or parenting classes but lack the resources to pay for them. This often extends their time away from their families. Sometimes the barrier to reunification is simply completion of one or more of these classes, and without the ability to afford them, their cases last longer than they otherwise would.

I find myself doing pro bono parenting classes and one-on-one anger management sessions because my passion is holistic healing. As a reentry specialist, I believe family is one of the most important aspects of recovery and successful reintegration into society.

Q: How are you working to meet or overcome that challenge?

A: Currently, I am working with nonprofits in my area and, under the nonprofit I founded, to get parenting manuals donated and to provide a space to host groups for free. I have also launched an initiative called FREE—Focused Reentry/Reunification Education Efforts. My belief is “No Community Without Collaboration.”

Q: What’s the most rewarding or fulfilling part of the work you do?

A: The most rewarding part of all my work is seeing hope reflected in those I serve—because make no mistake, I am utterly and humbly in the service of others.

When I facilitate trainings inside the prisons I once lived in, there’s nothing comparable to the gratitude shown by those men and women who are incarcerated and believe society has written them off—but we have not. I’m honored to be proof of that.

The rewards don’t stop there. In my own personal life, I have been able to rebuild relationships with my seven children and now four grandchildren. When my own children express how proud they are of what I’m doing and how grateful they are, that is a reward I cannot begin to quantify. Because of what I’ve experienced in my own life, I know how rewarding it is to help put one’s family back together. I’m honored and it brings me joy to support others in building bridges to better outcomes.

The Fun Five

What’s your favorite food?
Lasagna
What’s your favorite place to visit or travel?
Las Vegas
What’s your favorite way to relax?
A new Marvel movie or a good audiobook.
What is a book that you recommend to everyone?
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
What’s something that always makes you laugh?
My 7-year-old is hilarious!