The Ombuds Blog: CoFO Elects Officers

January 07, 2010

CoFO Elects Officers

At its fall meeting on November 18, 2009, the Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen announced the results of its Executive Committee elections:

Chairperson -– Wendy Kamenshine (Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Office)
Vice Chairperson -– Sarah Zeigler (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Secretary -– Jim Sheldon (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)
Coordinator -– Joyce DeMoss (Transportation Security Administration)

As the new Chair, Kamenshine thanked her successor, Michael Turpenoff (Department of Education), for his work on behalf of CoFO. The minutes from the meeting reflect continued coordination with USOA and advocacy on behalf of Federal Ombuds programs. Attendees also supported surveying members to determine whether their focus was on external or internal or internal constituents. CoFO will convene again later this month. (CoFO Meeting Minutes, 11/18/09.)

Zeigler and DeMoss are also active in IOA. (IOA 2008 Conf. Speaker Bios.)

Prior posts: COFO Sets Conference Agenda; CoFO Continues Work on Thorny Issues Facing Government Ombuds.

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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January 07, 2010

CoFO Elects Officers

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