The Ombuds Blog: The MacArthur Foundation Unveeils Ombuds Program

October 07, 2024

The MacArthur Foundation Unveeils Ombuds Program

MWI has announced that Jacqueline Villafañe and Ralph Johnson will serve as Ombuds team members for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support nonprofit organizations in approximately 117 countries around the world. Villafane and Johnson will serve over 200 staff at their headquarters in Chicago, and offices in India and Nigeria. Previously, a different contractor provided Ombuds services to the Foundation for a little over years.

After a recent solicitation, the Foundation selected MWI to provide an IOA-compliant Ombuds resource. Jacqueline Villafañe, CO-OP, has been an ombuds with the U.S. Department of the Interior, the American Red Cross, and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences. She also serves on the IOA Board of Directors. Ralph Johnson is an experienced Ombuds who served as the America Ombuds for 10 years at McKinsey & Company and was a core faculty member for IOA’s Foundations Course. (Macfound Ombuds.)

Updated 10/8/24: Details added and language revised to indicate a longer history of Ombuds programs at the MacArthur Foundation.

3 comments:

Tom Kosakowski10/07/2024 7:55 AM
I didn't see the RFP either.
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Anonymous10/07/2024 1:48 PM
It may have been a sole-sourced RFP.
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Alnoor Maherali10/08/2024 9:14 AM
Congratulations. Wonderful news.
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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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