The Ombuds Blog: IOA Announces New CO-OP Board Members and Progress on Program Certification

February 12, 2024

IOA Announces New CO-OP Board Members and Progress on Program Certification

Last week, the International Ombuds Association shared news about its certification program. First off, the Board of Certification for Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioners has new members. The volunteer Board is the certifying body authorized to award the CO-OP credential. Board members serve three year terms. The current CO-OP directors and officers are:

Mollie Berg, CO-OP, President (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency)
Suzanne Diviney, CO-OP, Secretary (Pfizer Inc.)
Amarah Khan, CO-OP, Treasurer (City of Seattle)
Allison Whaley, CO-OP, Director (Montgomery College)
Dan Marcotte, CO-OP, Director (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)
Diana Trillos, CO-OP Candidate, Director (World Bank Group )

In addition, IOA and the CO-OP Board recently announced that a joint task force is developing a new process that would certify programs separately from individuals (the current model) More details are expected at the IOA conference in March 2024. (IOA X, YouTube.)

No comments:

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

Comment Policy

Content and Relevance

Stay on topic: Comments should be relevant to the post.
Be respectful: Personal attacks, insults, profanity, inflammatory language, and discriminatory or harassing comments will not be tolerated.
No self-promotion or spam: Comments should contribute to the conversation and not be used to for commercial purposes.
No confidential information: Do not share confidential information about your organization or visitors.

Length and Format

Keep it concise: Comments should be clear and to the point. Excessively long comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Use appropriate formatting: Do not use all caps unnecessarily. Comments may include HTML formatting for readability.

Other Considerations

Be professional and respectful: Please be mindful of your content, even when commending anonymously.
Comments may be edited: I reserve the right to remove or edit any comments that violate these guidelines. My edits will be noted.
Complaints about IOA: This is not the appropriate forum to lodge formal complaints against the International Ombuds Association.
Guest editorials: Please email me directly to discuss a guest editorial offering a longer, more in-depth perspective on a topic related to the organizational ombuds profession

February 12, 2024

IOA Announces New CO-OP Board Members and Progress on Program Certification

No comments:

Post a Comment