COFO Sets Agenda and Opens Registration for 2023 Annual Conference

The Coalition of Federal Ombudsman has opened registration is now open for its 2023 Annual Conference, which will be held for both in-person and virtual attendees from 9–5 on Friday, October 13, 2023. The in-person portion of the conference will be held at the Clara Barton Auditorium at the US Patent and Trademark Office, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. As always, 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 other Ombuds and ADR practitioners anywhere, as well as those interested in other fields. Sessions include:

• Clare Fowler & Colin Rule, Mediate.com, “Me Myself and AI”;
• Will Hall & Mary Chavez Rudolph, Department of Interior Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution, “Evaluation of Ombuds Conflict Coaching Services at the Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution”;
• Tim Hedeen, Professor and former University Ombuds at Kennesaw State University, “IOA Government Sector Survey Data Review”;
• Stacy Puente, Ombuds at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and Sarah Gill, Ombuds at FINRA, “The Neutral As Advocate”;
• Teresa Ralicki, Ombuds Analyst at Pinterest, “Gossip’s Hidden Virtues: How Ombuds Use Gossip as a Catalyst for Positive Change”;
• Yvonne Vissing, Professor and Director of the Center for Childhood & Youth Studies at Salem State University and Policy Chair, United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child, “Being an Ombuds JEDI: Addressing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”; and
• Luella Wong, CEO of Lunar Inc., “Facilitating Collaboration in Dispute Resolution with Tools from Other Disciplines.”

A post-conference happy hour will be held in Alexandria near the conference site after the conclusion of the agenda.

When registering, please provide an email address and indicate whether you are attending in-person or virtually. Virtual attendee must provide an email address for the virtual Microsoft Teams. Registration for both virtual and in-person attendance will close at 5pm Eastern time on October 12, 2023. (COFO Registration Eventzilla.)

Update 10/11/23: COFO has received approval for CO-OP professional development hours. The PDH breakdown by plenary session is as follows: 

• Fowler/Rule – 1.0 PDH 
• Hall/Chavez-Rudolph – 0.5 PDH 
• Hedeen – 0.5 PDH 
• Puente/Gill – 0.5 PDH 
• Ralicki – 1.0 PDH 
• Wong – 1.5 PDH

Related posts: Updated Website is Great Resource for U.S. Government Ombuds; COFO Opens Registration for 2021 Virtual Conference; Coalition of Federal Ombudsman Posts Agenda and Registration for 2022 Conference; Save the Date for COFO's 2023 Conference; COFO 2023 Annual Conference: Call for Presentations.