Election for 2021 IOA Board: 5 Nominees for 6 Seats

The International Ombudsman Association has opened the voting process for its 2021 Board of Directors. The election is a bit of a surprise this year because there are fewer candidates than open director seats. The Board said that it is reconsidering the eligibility criteria, which may be discouraging people from becoming directors. An email about the election included this announcement:

The Nominations and Governance Committee (NGC) and the Board recognize that although the current eligibility criteria listed in the IOA Bylaws were created in good faith and with specific purposes in mind to protect the Standards of Practice, they have actually created barriers for interested members to seek board service, and limits diverse representation on the Board. NGC and the Board are committed to breaking down these barriers as a part of strategic governance planning that is currently underway. The Board expects to propose revisions to the IOA Bylaws at the Annual Meeting this April.

Three nominees are incumbents and two would be new to the Board. Jessica Kuchta-Miller, CO-OP (Washington University in St. Louis) and Sana Manjeshwar, CO-OP (Chevron) were eligible for a second term, but are not on the ballot. Here are the nominees along links to any information published on the Ombuds Blog:

• Roy Baroff, CO-OP (incumbent) — Faculty & Staff Ombuds, North Carolina State University;
• Suzanne Diviney, CO-OP (incumbent) — Vice President, Office of the Ombuds Lead, Pfizer Inc.;
• Elisa V. Enriquez, CO-OP — Senior Associate Ombuds, Los Alamos National Laboratory;
• Wayne Francis Marriott, Workplace Facilitator/Organisational Ombuds; and
• Steve Prevaux, CO-OP (incumbent and Board VP) — University Ombuds, University of South Florida.

Elections close March 4, 2021. (IOA Board.)

Related posts: IOA Announces New Board Members for 2019; Continuity Marks IOA's Leadership Team for 2019; IOA Board Fills One of Two Vacated Director Positions, Names New Secretary; IOA Board Appoints New Director to Open Seat; IOA Voting for 2020 Board to be Strictly Pro Forma; IOA Seeks Nominations for 2021 Board of Directors; IOA Board Shares Three-Year Strategic Plan