Will Hoadley-Brill has always been a peace maker. When he was 10 years old he heard from a friend that he was being bullied and, as Will puts it, “he was filled with rage.” He channeled that rage into a program that he started at school called the “Peace Team” which was an anti-bullying organization.
When Will entered middle school he joined the associated student body and his advisor asked him if he wanted to help people. Of course, Will said yes and they started a group called the “Upstanders”. They focused on peer mediation and events for students to talk about intolerance, communication and acceptance.
Will has spent most of his young life advocating for his fellow students and being a peace maker. When he entered high school, he had this to say about starting a peer mediation program: “What I wanted to do at South Pasadena was to ensure that every single student knows they have a space that they can go, feel welcome, and talk about whatever they need to talk about. So for me these programs aren’t just about learning conflict resolution . . . it’s about developing and fostering a community where everyone can feel welcome an accepted and comfortable.”
