Elizabeth W. Pino: Longtime IOA Leader, Founded Ombuds Program for McKinsey & Co.

Elizabeth Walsh Pino passed away February 8, 2010 of cancer. In 1992, she created the first law firm Ombuds office at the Boston firm of Palmer & Dodge (later Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge). In 1998, she established and headed a global Ombuds program for the powerhouse consulting firm of McKinsey & Co. She was active in the International Ombudsman Association and other professional organizations. For IOA, she served as a Director, Assistant Treasurer and Co-Chair of the Finance Committee. In 2003, The Ombudsman Association honored her for outstanding contributions to the Ombuds profession. Pino served as an arbitrator for the Massachusetts Bar Association, worked with the Boston Bar Association Gender and Justice Committee on a model sexual harassment policy. Her legacy is preserved in part by the many articles she authored on the Ombuds role, including the often-cited piece she wrote with Howard Gadlin for TOA in 1997, "Neutrality: What an Organizational Ombudsperson Might Want to Know." As an instructor for IOA's Ombuds 101 program, she also taught many current practitioners. A funeral mass is scheduled for February 11, in Boston. (Boston Globe Obituary; NY Times 1994 article.)