Miller, Woodards met prior to speech to discuss Miller’s work, Growing up in East Bay

Washington, DC – U.S. Rep George Miller tonight met with D’vondre Woodards, a 22 year old who grew up in Richmond and Miller’s invited guest to President Obama’s State of the Union speech. Woodards serves as a Senior Fellow as part of the City of Richmond Operation Peacemaker fellowship.

Miller, Woodards and other Peacekeeper fellows met for an hour before President Obama’s State of the Union Address. The Peacekeepers shared their personal stories with Miller, including the reasons that compelled them to join the Peacekeepers program. Miller encouraged the young men to stick with the program, and congratulated them on their milestones.

Woodards shared with Miller that he just finished his first semester at Contra Costa Community College and hopes to attend Moorehouse College or Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University to continue his studies, and asked Miller about his path to becoming a Congressman. Miller explained that he too attended a local community college, Diablo Valley College, before going on to attend San Francisco State University and University of California Davis.

Miller also spoke to the group about his work in Congress, expressing his concern about the gridlock in Congress. “You know what they say, ‘politics is like war without the guns,’” he told the Peacemakers. “This is serious business that we engage in here – the American people win and lose based on what Congress is deliberating. Students will get money to help pay for school, or they won’t. Creating compromise is a challenge, but it is a challenge that can be met if we work at it. The bottom line is it’s just flat out not good for the country when Congress members have this ‘my way or the highway approach.’”

According to the City of Richmond, the primary purpose of the Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) Peacemaker Fellowship is to save lives. The fellowship is designed to create a viable space for selected individuals ages 16-25 to contribute in a real way to building and sustaining community peace, health and well-being, with the express purpose of eliminating gun violence in Richmond.

Each member of Congress receives one ticket for a guest to sit in the visitors’ gallery of the House of Representatives to watch the speech. Miller has met with Richmond’s Peacemakers during their prior visits to D.C. in 2011 and is impressed by the work the young men do to develop a positive life path forward and mentor other young men have done in similar situations. After learning that the Peacemakers were going to be in Washington this week for the National Mentoring Summit, Miller extended an invitation to the organization. The group selected D’vondre Woodards.

Woodards has been involved with the Fellowship program for more than a year. He has already achieved Senior Fellow status as a result of his willingness to work with rival neighborhood individuals to create peaceful resolutions to existing conflicts. He attends school and works. Raised in Richmond, his parents were largely absent as he was growing up. Woodards said he credits the power and impact of the Fellowship opportunity and mentoring for his personal transformation. He said that he now mentors young men in his community as a result of his appreciation for those people who mentored him at critical times in his life.

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