The 2020 Coalition of Federal Ombudsman Annual Conference will be held virtually all day on October 16th, 2020. When registering, please make sure your email address is correct. The virtual link to the conference will be provided via email to all registrants 24-48 hours before the conference begins.
As federal ombuds, we support others every day in our work, and that couldn't be more important in a year which has included a global pandemic, widespread unrest, and serious hurricanes and wildfires in the US. But if we're not improving ourselves and dealing with our own stress so that we can be at our best, we won't be able to support others as well as we can.
So the 2020 COFO Annual Conference will focus not only on supporting others - the ways in which we can better support our stakeholders - but also on supporting each other in practicing self-care and improving our day-to-day practices.
The conference is free and open to all. The agenda is primarily aimed at federal ombuds practitioners of all models, but includes information and sessions which may be of interest to ombuds and ADR practitioners anywhere, as well as those interested in these fields.
Agenda:
9:30am – 10:00am
Virtual Networking Open Forum
10:00am – 10:10am
Welcome & Opening Remarks
10:10am – 10:55am
COFO Mentoring Committee
- Brenda Doty, Trial Attorney, Federal Maritime Commission
- Laurel Gordon, Deputy Ombuds, United States Marshals Service
- David Michael, Senior Program Advisor, NIH Office of Research Facilities
10:55am – 11:05am Morning Break
11:05am – 11:35am
COFO Executive Committee Q&A Session
11:35am – 12:15pm
Plenary 1: Mindfulness: Cultivating Present Moment Awareness
- Cynthia Pyle, Training & Development Specialist, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and Wellness Practitioner
12:15pm – 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm – 1:45pm
IOA Effectiveness Project
- Jenn Mahony, Associate Ombudsman, National Institutes of Health
- Bill Maurer, Ombudsman, United States Census Bureau
1:45pm – 2:45pm
Plenary 2: Dealing with High Conflict Clients
- Megan Hunter, CEO and Co-Founder, High Conflict Institute
2:45pm – 3:00pm Afternoon Break
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Plenary 3: Ombuds Unity Panel
- Elizabeth Hill, Associate Director, University of Colorado Boulder Ombuds Office; American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Council Member, Section Marketing Officer, and Immediate Past Co-Chair; ABA DR Ombuds Committee
- Chuck Howard, Executive Director, International Ombudsman Association
- Jon Lee, Associate Ombudsperson, University of California San Francisco; Co-Chair, ABA DR Ombuds Committee
- Robin Matsunaga, Ombudsman, State of Hawaii; President, United States Ombudsman Association
- Paul Sotoudeh, Chief Ombudsman, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Chair, COFO
Panel Discussion Moderated By:
- Wendy Kamenshine, Ombudsman, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Plenary 4: Supervision for Organisational Ombudsmen: Growing the Profession through Supportive, Ethical, Reflective Practice
- David Miller, Ombudsman, Distinguished Emeritus, International Ombudsman Association
- Fred Wright, Workplace Conciliator, Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning, State of Victoria, Australia
5:00pm
Closing Remarks
