Official Training Active Bystanders (TAB) Program Newsletter

November 2025, Issue no. 16

Image: Our Co-Executive Directors at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Conference on October 22nd

In this month's issue: 

• UPCOMING TRAININGS
• 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
• TRAINING HIGHLIGHT: MNN
• INTRODUCING ADVANCED WORKSHOPS
• DISCUSSION: WHEN YOUR FRIEND IS THE HARMDOER
• WHAT'S NEXT

This fall we have some upcoming trainings, open to any and everyone. If you have been trained in a 2.5 hour session, consider being trained as a trainer in our upcoming T4T. If you are a trainer, consider people in your community who might benefit from taking a training or becoming a trainer with you. 

November 4th 9:30am-12:00pm -  2.5-hour community training 

December 3rd, 5th, and 8th 12pm-3pm - 9-hour T4T split over the 3 days 

Our Co-Executive Director, Lilly Fellows, started working with Quabbin Mediation 10 years ago this fall. In 2015, Lilly became a TAB trainer and Peer Mediator as a student at Mahar Regional High School. In 2020, Lilly became an instructor, consultant, and, soon after, the director of youth programming. 

Now, as Co-Executive Director, Lilly increased our youth programming by about 1,000% (Yes, you are seeing that right!). In 2024, we had 2 youth trainings, trained 20 youth as trainers, and trained an additional 6 in our 2.5-hour curriculum. So far in 2025, she has done 14 trainings, trained 119 youth as trainers, and trained an additional 170 students in TAB. Included in these trainings were our first-ever elementary training for trainers, advanced TAB workshop, and conflict resolution training. 

In their first year as Co-Executive Director, Lilly has also started a robust internship program, offering internships to 13 college and high school students, launched an athletics curriculum, started our advanced workshop catalogue, and created our conflict resolution training program. 

In addition to their work with TAB, Lilly graduated from Smith College in January of 2024 with a B.A. in Psychology, minor in Exercise Sport Studies, and concentration in Community Engagement and Social Change. At Smith, she was a 5-year member and 2-year captain of the varsity field hockey team, won awards for their research in the Sport for Social Change Lab, and sat on the board of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Now, she is a graduate student at Springfield College, pursuing a master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Athletic Counseling. She is the Athletic Counseling program coordinator at Western New England University, organizes mental support services at the Springfield College Sport Injury Rehabilitation Clinic, and works with teams and individuals at UMass Amherst, Springfield College, Westfield State, and Western New England. 

As if she could have any more time in the day, Lilly also founded and runs an accessible recruitment program, aimed at making college athletics more accessible to low-income youth, called All Access Athletics, based on their research. 

We are so proud of everything Lilly is accomplishing, and we are very lucky to have her on our team. Happy 10-years with Quabbin Mediation!

Quabbin Mediation's Co-Executive Directors, Lilly Fellows and Stephanie Hsu, recently presented at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Annual Conference. Their session, "Everyday Equity: Practicing Active Bystandership in Nonprofit Spaces," brought together a large group of nonprofit professionals and community change leaders for a powerful discussion on how harm shows up both in the communities our organizations work in and our own workplaces. 

The conversation was thoughtful and engaging, sparking meaningful connections and next steps. Quabbin Mediation looks forward to continued collaboration with many of the organizations in attendance and we have already scheduled several follow-up trainings and conversations. 

Quabbin Mediation is excited to announce the launch of a new series of advanced conflict resolution workshops, designed for organizations, schools, communities, and other groups to deepen their skills in active bystandership, communication, and conflict resolution. 

Building on our foundations in mediation, conflict resolution, and Training Active Bystanders, these interactive one-hour sessions explore real-world challenges in more depth. A section of our new workshops are specific to people or groups who have taken the 2.5 or 9-hour TAB trainings. We are also offering many workshops in conflict resolution that stand alone from, but work well with, TAB. 

We ran our first two advanced conflict resolution workshops this September. At Greenfield High School, our TAB trainers took our advanced inhibitors workshop, learning more about how to step in when they aren't sure what's going on or are worried about the social consequences. At Pioneer High School, we ran a conflict resolution workshop with an athletic team on conflict mapping. The athletes learned how to recognize harm, become aware of their feelings, and what they can do to resolve the conflict. 

Read through our advanced workshop catalogue below, we are working on increasing our offerings every day. If you would like to talk about scheduling an advanced workshop please reach out to lillyfellows@quabbinmediation.org

This month, our discussion lesson is on what to do when your friend, family member, co-worker, or loved one is the harmdoer. 

We have been busy lately! This month one of our Co-Executive directors attended the Amnesty International Conference and the other attended the Association of Sport Psychology Conference. Both attended and presented at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Conference. We hired two new consultants and onboarded two new interns for the academic year. We co-hosted a community learning session with LUCE on ICE and immigration and had our first book club meeting. Last but not least, we hosted a TAB training for Heywood Hospital staff members. 

We have a busy month ahead. We will kick off November with a community TAB training, and we will also train in the Greenfield, Athol, and Amherst communities. We will begin a series of school trainings with Pioneer teachers and staff, followed by a T4T session with 20 high school students. We look forward to what's ahead. 

Copyright (C) 2025 Quabbin Mediation. All rights reserved.

Questions? Email lillyfellows@quabbinmediation.org