FDP is the First Political Party with an Ombuds

Six years ago, Christopher Gohl was chosen to serve as the first Ombudsperson for the Free Democratic Party, Germany’s liberal party. FPD (Freie Demokratische Partei) holds about about 10% of the seats in paliament. In this volunteer position, Gohl serves about 66,000 members. He also serves as FDP's Head of Political Planning, Program and Analysis, which involves implementing resolutions from party conventions. Although professional associations (especially in the U.S.) have been creating Ombuds programs for their members, this is the Ombuds serving a political party.

Gohl brings significant and relevant experience to the position. As a project manager for IFOK, he facilitated and mediated dialogues in for large infrastructure projects, including the Frankfurt Airport. For the past eight years, he has been the Public Dialogue Coordinator and a faculty member at Weltethos-Institut Tübingen, an institute affiliated with the University of Tuebingen which that studies and promotes economic and business ethics. Gohl graduated from the University of Tübingen, studied at Georgetown University, and earned a Master's and PhD at the University of Potsdam. (LinkedIn, YouTube; WEIT Bio.)

Updated 9/25/20: As of June 2020, Austria's NEOS (Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum) also has an Ombuds program for its members.