About
Working Groups
In order to facilitate and develop the goals of the Commission, we break our efforts down in to smaller Working Groups, each tasked with a specific area of our work, lead by a commissioner, staffed by commissioners and volunteers from the community alike. We have four primary working groups, but also run project-specific groups, as needed.
OUTREACH
Our Outreach Working Group (OWG) is tasked with building relationships with all the other town and community groups, houses of worship, and business associations in Arlington. They also work to connect with peer organizations in neighboring towns. OWG takes on making Calls To Action on those occasions when the AHRC needs to mobilize our network. The OWG is lead by Commissioner Drake Pusey.
COMMUNICATIONS
Our Communications Working Group (CWG) works on developing our digital properties and online resources (outside of the town's website) such as this website, our social media accounts and YouTube channel, along with responding to the communications we receive through those channels. They also write and edit content for our newsletters, and work on announcements and media plugs with the EWG and OWG leads. The CWG is lead by Commissioner Melanie Brown.
EVENTS
Our Events Working Group (EWG) develops all of our HRC related programming and learning opportunities, including topic selection and logistics; they locate speakers and performers, set time and location, design graphics, and wrangle resources from PA systems to video streaming. The EWG is lead by Commissioner Crystal Haynes.
SCHOOLS
Our Schools Working Group (SWG) interfaces with the School Committee, District and Parent Groups to track and address issues of Human Rights as they relate to our children. SWG may also pass town-wide Event ideas over to the EWG, or directly support school based events. The SWG is lead by Co-Chair Sharon Grossman.​
GOVERNANCE
Our Governance Working Group (GWG) was created to ensure that the Town's by laws (which enacted the AHRC) and the Rules and Regulations (which govern the Commission's operations) accurately reflect how the Commission and its Commissioners conduct themselves today and manage our responsibilities effectively. The by laws and the Rules and Regulations have not been updated in more than a decade and need to be clarified and modernized. The GWG is led by Commissioner Kathy Rogers.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Periodically, the Commission will have project-specific Working Groups to address issues that require special attention or that run for a shorter timeframe. Currently these groups include Indigenous People's Day, Black Lives Matter, and Housing Discrimination in the Town of Arlington.