Greenfield Recorder – 23-year-old Orange resident named co-executive director of Quabbin Mediation

ORANGE — Lilly Fellows first encountered the Training Active Bystanders program while she was a student at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, where she volunteered as a trainer and peer mediator throughout her third and fourth years.

While she admitted that as a high school student she thought the program was a great way to get out of school and spend time with friends, she eventually realized that the skills she learned through peer mediation and the ability to connect with others helped her greatly as a leader and athlete in college.

“Being able to mediate conflicts and have difficult conversations on the team really helped me,” Fellows said, referring to her time as captain of the field hockey team at Smith College in Northampton.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in psychology last year and a minor in exercise science and sports studies, Fellows will lean on his skills as co-executive director of Quabbin Mediation, the nonprofit that started the Training Active Bystanders program in 2006. At 23, Fellows is believed to be one of the youngest nonprofit executive directors in North America.

Fellows’ appointment comes as former Quabbin Mediation Executive Director and Founder Sharon Tracy, as well as Training Director Susan Wallace, are stepping down. A retirement party in their honor will be held Tuesday, July 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. State Senator Jo Comerford, Massachusetts Rural Affairs Director Anne Gobi, retired Senate President Stan Rosenberg, and others will deliver remarks at 2 p.m.

While the Orange resident said she’s nervous about having to fill such big shoes, Fellows, who received the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Young Community Leader Award in 2022, also feels ready to take on the task along with her new co-executive director, Lexington resident Stephanie Hsu. They have big plans for the future of Training Active Bystanders to build on the legacy of their predecessors, which includes expanding the program to meet the needs of as many communities as possible with curriculum offered in multiple languages, including French, Spanish and Mandarin.

Founded in 1995, Quabbin Mediation is a nonprofit organization known for its work in conflict resolution. It started Training Active Bystanders after recognizing the need for mediation for small towns in the North Quabbin area. Since then, Training Active Bystanders has helped communities all over the world, from Eastern Massachusetts, the United Kingdom, Canada, Alaska, and Zambia. Additionally, in 2007, Quabbin Mediation launched Veterans Mediation, which has trained over 1,000 veterans statewide.

People often find themselves in situations where they could help others but choose not to, instead remaining passive in harmful situations because they don’t want to get hurt themselves or simply don’t know how to act. Standing up for what’s right becomes easier when an individual has the skills to analyze a situation, assess the consequences, and take action to prevent harm or disruption. That’s what it means to be an active observer, Fellows explained.

“It’s a really important thing, not only for your personal safety and the safety of you and the people around you, but also for the value of your community and valuing positive action in your community,” Fellows said when asked about the organization’s mission. “Speaking out against negative action can really change the whole city.”

The program’s two-and-a-half-hour or six-hour training sessions include group sessions to brainstorm ideas for mediating and resolving community conflicts. The curriculum includes identifying people in harmful situations, understanding what leads to bystander inaction, and how to prevent future inaction.

“Mediation is in some sense a solution to the problem, while Active Bystander Training is a preventative measure where you can learn self-regulation skills without having to resort to mediation,” Fellows said.

From schools and youth camps to businesses and prisons, ideas about conflict resolution and mediation vary from place to place. Training Active Bystanders recognizes this by implementing a Training for Trainers model where peers train members within their own community.

“What makes it unique is that people are doing the training in their own communities, so you don’t have people from different communities coming in and telling you what’s right for you,” she said. “You have people from your own community doing the training and talking about the things that really matter to the community.”

Stepping into the role of co-executive director, Fellows said she is focused on continuing to work with youth, understanding what the program has done for them and what she knows it can do for the next generation. She will also pursue a master’s degree in mental health counseling and sports counseling at Springfield College this fall.

While she may have a lot on her plate, Fellows refuses to be discouraged, considering her life motto of “saying yes” to every opportunity that comes her way. She believes that this attitude has led her to where she is today.

But most of all, Fellows hopes that people will take the same lessons she did from the Training Active Bystanders program.

“I think the most important thing that Training Active Bystanders teaches is to always have an open mind,” she explained. “Do what you think is right, stand up for what you believe in, and whether you do it through TAB or Quabbin Mediation, find a way to develop your conflict resolution skills to learn how to be an active bystander. The more you practice, the easier it is to stand up for what’s right.”