Bonie Cronin - co-chair

Matthew Jones - co-chair
Matt Jones is an attorney specializing in labor, employment and education law, who works for a statewide union in Boston. As an attorney, Matt has represented claimants in race, disability, gender, sexual orientation and age discrimination cases before the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and in arbitration. Matt has also presented at seminars for educators on topics relating to discrimination law and disability accommodations for employees and public school students. Matt and his wife, Judy Rosenbaum, have lived in Melrose for nineteen years. They have a daughter and a son who both attended the Melrose Public Schools.

Mark Golub - Commissioner
Mark Golub is a retired Rabbi who spent over forty years championing human and civil rights. He served as vice-Chair of the Newport-News/Hampton (VA) Human Rights Comission for five years, during which he was involved in hearing and processing hundreds of human rights cases with emphasis upon housing and job discrimination. Mark has also been deeply involved in interfaith relations and community outreach. He and Alice have been residents of Melrose for the past four years.

Suzy Groden - Commissioner

Dr. Suzy Q Groden is a retired educator. She was an administrator, program developer, and faculty member in the Graduate College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston, 1976 - 2001. After retiring from UMass Boston, she taught Latin and English at Melrose High School until 2006. Her published works include translations from the ancient Greek (The Poems of Sappho and Plato's Symposium), and a co-authored book on the teaching of writing (The Discovery of Competence). She did translation, research, and manuscript editing on three volumes of The Miscellaneous Journals and Notebooks of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Dr. Groden served on the Melrose School Committee 1996 - 1998, and joined the Melrose Human Rights Commission in order to be part of a local group that works to insure justice and dignity for all Melrose citizens.

Gayle Peterson - Commissioner

Sally Stubbs - Commissioner


Spencer Deshields - Commissioner
Spencer Deshields is currently the Executive Director for the Mattapan Community Development Corporation in Boston MA. He is responsible for the economic and social enhancement of the Mattapan community. During his career he has volunteered support to non-profit organizations utilizing the expertise from his experiences with Texas instruments, Digital Equipment and Compaq-HP. His experience has been associated with major non-profit community organizations, college preparatory institutions and major universities. He has successfully developed capital campaigns, fundraising strategies business and economic development initiatives. Education: Boston College & Babson BS-MBA.

Robert Paul Chase - Commissioner
Rob grew up in Melrose and was involved with the Melrose Human Rights commission in high school. Rob moved away for college, internships and graduate school. He has lived in Amherst, Hartford, Manhattan and Brooklyn. Rob returned to Melrose in 2008 after finishing his Masters in Matheamtics at the Courant Institute to start working full time for the Volpe National Transportation Systems Research Center in Cambridge. In September of 2008, Rob started a Ph.D. program in mathematics at Northeastern University, where he has a teaching fellowship. Rob maintains a busy schedule of classes at Northeastern, teaching at UMass Boston and doing data analysis for Volpe. Robert believes that every community must be safe and open to be healthy. Rob supports the HRC because its programming creates a sense of openness and inclusion among the people of Melrose.
Barbara Threet - Liason to Clergy