Just4Everyone Athletics
About Just4Everyone Athletics
Our mission is to promote more accessible and equitable athletic spaces that foster diverse participation, strengthen team culture, and cultivate leadership and well-being, while equipping athletes and organizations to navigate conflict, promote inclusion, and prevent and respond to harm.
Our History
Just4Everyone Athletics began with a simple question: Why should access to college athletics depend on where you live, how much money your family has, or whether you know how the recruiting process works?
Our founders' experience as a student-athlete at a low-income public high school in rural Western Massachusetts revealed barriers that had little to do with talent or dedication. Without the financial resources to participate in club sports or expensive recruiting opportunities, the path to collegiate athletics looked very different. After walking onto a collegiate athletic team, it became clear that many athletes shared similar abilities but lacked the same access to information, exposure, or opportunity.
This experience inspired years of research into college athletic recruiting. While athletics are often described as a pathway to educational opportunity, research consistently demonstrates that the recruiting process favors athletes with greater financial resources, access to club sports, recruiting events, and established networks. For many talented athletes, the greatest barrier is not ability- it's access to information and opportunity.
To address this gap, the Accessible Recruitment initiative was created to provide free recruitment education, resources, workshops, and mentorship from current and former collegiate athletes. The goal was simple: remove unnecessary barriers by sharing the knowledge that too often exists behind expensive pay-to-play systems.
As the program grew, another pattern became increasingly clear. Access alone was not enough. Athletes also needed environments where they felt safe, supported, and empowered to succeed.
Through our work with Training Active Bystanders (TAB), we recognized that athletic communities experience many of the same challenges seen across society, including hazing, harassment, bullying, discrimination, interpersonal conflict, and mental health concerns. Athletes are often expected to be leaders in their communities, yet they often receive little to no training in how to recognize harm, support teammates, or navigate difficult situations.
Our Conflict Engagement programming combines athlete-specific active bystander education with practical skills in communication, conflict resolution, empathy, and psychological safety. Our goal is to help athletes and teams build cultures where everyone feels empowered to speak up, support one another, and manage harm before it escalates.
As our partnerships with schools and athletic departments expanded, one final need consistently emerged. Teams wanted support not only in responding to challenges, but also in proactively building strong cultures and helping athletes perform at their best. This led to the additions of Belonging & Culture Consulting and Leadership & Performance Development.
Teams that communicate effectively, foster belonging, and prioritize well-being are better equipped to perform under pressure, navigate adversity, and sustain success both on and off the field.
Today, Gathering Currents brings these four areas together through Just4Everyone Athletics to help contribute to athletic environments that are more accessible, more inclusive, and better equipped to help every athlete thrive.
Because athletics should be both for everyone and just for everyone.
Check out what the Smith College Sport for Social Change Lab is currently working on by visiting their website below or following them on Instagram.
Our Team
Collaboration. Evidence-Based. Athlete-Centered.
Co-Executive Director, Founder
Lilly Fellows
Lilly started working with Gathering Currents as a student trainer and peer mediator in 2015. In 2020, Lilly became a consultant, helping the Training Active Bystanders program move their youth based work online. In 2024, she became Co-Executive Director of the nonprofit. Lilly graduated from Smith College in 2024 with a B.A. in Psychology, Exercise Sport Studies, and Community Engagement and Social Change. While at Smith, she was a 5-year varsity athlete, 2-year captain, served on the SAAC board, and won the Beacon Award for her commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion within her athletics department. Currently, she is in her final year of an M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, with a concentration in Athletic Counseling, and is a counseling intern in the Springfield College Counseling Center. As a counselor, she specializes in athletes and performers, conflict, and violence prevention.
Co-Executive Director
Stephanie Hsu
Stephanie started working with Gathering Currents as a Training Active Bystanders (TAB) trainer in 2017. This experience transformed her ability to step in and take safe, effective action when witnessing harm or bias. In 2020, she became a TAB instructor, and in 2022 became the TAB Coordinator, before being named Co-Executive Director in 2024. Before working with Gathering Currents, Stephanie's background was in knowledge management for public sector practice and fund development, and she worked with McKinsey & Company and Big Brothers Big Sisters Philadelphia. Beyond her professional work, Stephanie is deeply engaged in civic life as Vice Chair of the Lexington Human Rights Committee (LHRC), liaison for the Commission on Disability for the LHRC, and co-chair of the Collaborative Reform Group on Mental Health & Neurodiversity.
Our team brings together expertise in mental performance, conflict engagement, athletic counseling, facilitation, and leadership development. United by a shared commitment to accessibility, belonging, and athlete well-being, we partner with athletes and organizations to build stronger, healthier athletic communities.
Trainers and Instructors
Our trainers and instructors are experienced facilitators dedicated to creating engaging, inclusive, and evidence-informed learning experiences. Every trainer completes our comprehensive Train-the-Trainer program, receiving extensive preparation in active bystandership, facilitation, and conflict engagement before leading workshops. Trainers and instructors participate in ongoing coaching and evaluation to ensure high-quality, interactive programming that meets the needs of every audience. In addition to their specialized knowledge, many of our trainers and instructors hold certifications and advanced training in areas including Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Psychological First Aid, mediation, ethics, virtual facilitation, LGBTQ+ affirmative care, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, hazing prevention and intervention, violence prevention, and more.
Together, our team brings a multidisciplinary approach that equips participants with practical skills to build safer, more inclusive, and more connected communities.
Mental Performance Consultants
We work with a team of highly trained Mental Performance Consultants who bring expertise in sport psychology, athletic counseling, conflict engagement, and facilitation. This unique combination allows our consultants to help athletes and teams not only perform at their best, but also build stronger relationships, navigate conflict early and effectively, and foster positive team cultures.
Our consultants are Certified Mental Performance Consultants (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) or graduate students who are CMPC-eligible upon graduation. All services are grounded in evidence-based practices and a commitment to creating accessible, inclusive, and high-performing athletic environments.
Student Leadership
Our team is strengthened by a dynamic cohort of undergraduate and graduate student interns who contribute to nearly every aspect of Just4Everyone Athletics. Each summer, we welcome 6-8 interns and 2-3 youth, along with additional interns throughout the academic year, gaining hands-on experience in nonprofit leadership, athletics, mental performance, conflict engagement, marketing, research, program development, and community outreach.
We are especially excited to welcome current and former athletes who are passionate about creating more accessible, inclusive, and high-performing athletic communities. Internships are remote, flexible, and can often be completed for academic credit or through college-funded internship programs. Interns receive mentorship, professional development, and certification as Training Active Bystanders (TAB) trainers while contributing to projects that make a meaningful impact.
Volunteer Mentors
Our Accessible Recruitment program is made possible by the generosity of current and former collegiate athletes who volunteer their time to support the next generation of athletes. Volunteer mentors are matched one-on-one with high school athletes to answer questions, share their experiences, and help students navigate the college recruitment process.
Mentoring is flexible and designed to fit busy athletic schedules. Whether answering a few questions over email, meeting virtually, or connecting periodically throughout the recruiting journey, mentors made a meaningful difference by helping expand access to the knowledge and support that every athlete deserves.
If you are a current or former collegiate athlete who wants to give back and help make college athletics more accessible, we would love to have you join our mentor network. If you are a high school athlete looking to be paired with a mentor, please visit our Accessible Recruitment page.