Linda Melconian, JD, Hon

Biography

Elected by the Senate peers as first woman Majority Leader, MA State Senate, Linda Melconian managed and led Senate on all public policy issues. She demonstrated expertise in policy development and acute negotiation skills, building consensus among all stakeholders. Her leadership style reflected collaboration with business and labor leaders, diversity, empowerment, and teamwork. She served as Assistant Counsel to U. S. House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. working as a speechwriter, negotiated staff and Member of legislative and compromises, domestic and foreign policy adviser.

As a Senior Fellow at Moakley Center for Public Management, Linda Melconian teaches and develops program opportunities connecting business students with government on campus. Her contribution to students’ experiential learning include a Washington Seminar and a MA State Public Policy course. She also developed a Moakley Fellows Graduate Internship program (Washington, D.C.) and Moakley Breakfast Forum Series on current local, state and federal policy issues.

Her research interests and published articles include Gender Pay Equality, Health Care Nonprofits, Enhancing Business Ethics & Governance Curriculum. She is most proud of the program she developed and taught to minimum- and medium-security female county inmates about career/workforce development plans post jail time. She also created a course for a minor program in Business-Law-Ethics, “Getting Government to Say Yes to Business!”

Honors and Recognitions

• Induction into Suffolk University’s Pi Alpha Alpha, Nat’l Honor Society for Public Affairs/Administration for “Scholarship-Leadership-Excellence”
• Recognition by Mount Holyoke College as one of its 175 all-time alumnae “Women of Influence;”
• Suffolk University’s Dean John Brennan Award for “Outstanding Instruction to Graduate Students”;
• Honorary Deputy Sheriff, Hampden County;
• Lecture Minister, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

Professional Activities

• Executive Board of Hampden County Sheriffs Charitable Foundation for Workforce Development, since 2020
• Former member, Board of Trustees, Greenfield Community College—on search committee for new President, 2014-2019
• Chairperson, Fundraising Campaign for new Parish Center, since 2017
• Campaign manager HC Register of Probate campaign, 2020
• Organizer/fundraiser 2020 Presidential election, 2019-2020

Publications

Recent Intellectual Contributions

Blodgett, M. S., Melconian, L. J., & Peterson, J. H. (2016). Social Enterprise: Reaffirming Public Purpose Governance through Shared Value. Journal of Business and Securities Law, 16(2), 305–328.

Oral History Project, contribution commemorating 100th anniversary of women in Congress, Transcript peer reviewed/edited/published by U. S. House of Representatives Historian’s Office, 2019, author

Melconian, L., Lay It on the Table, SkillBites LLC, fall 2021.

Intellectual Contributions

• Linda Melconian's Intellectual Contributions [PDF]

Media Highlights

• Suffolk University’s Moakley Forum Series and NASPA Conference, moderator, panel discussion of Consequences of 2020 Election through Zoom, Channel 22 WWLP TV, Springfield, MAA, 11/7/20