August 27, 2025

IOA Announces 2025 September Symposium Speakers


The International Ombuds Association has announced the speaker lineup for its 2025 September Symposium, "Advocating for Your Office and the Ombuds Role." The virtual event will take place on September 30, 2025, from 11:00am to 7:00pm Eastern time.

Here are the scheduled speakers:


  • Welcome: Jenn Mahoney (Boston Children's Hospital) and Ellen Miller (International Ombuds Association)
  • Coffee Keynote: ROI of Ombuds Programs - Examples from the Corporate Sector: Sana Manjeshwar (Chevron), Adam Learman (Pfizer), Thomas Hampton (MARS), and Carolyn Esposito (AllianceBernstein)
  • Developing Relationships and Allies: Donna Douglass Williams (Pinterest), Arllon Souza Viçoso (IBM), and Monique A. Bookstein (Prince William, VA County Schools)
  • Navigating Relationships and Outreach in Light of the SOPs: Hector Escalante (University of California, Merced) and Mijanoux Beauchamp (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada)
  • Lunch Keynote: Why Is It So Hard to Advocate for Our Roles? Imposter Syndrome and Ombuds: Valerie Young (Co-Founder, Imposter Syndrome Institute)
  • Ready, Set, Go! Getting Your Advocacy Toolbox Set: Mark Patterson (Cal Poly Pomona) and Jen Schneider (University of South Florida)
  • Afternoon Tea Keynote: General Counsel/Human Resources Roundtable: Therese M. Leone (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Lisa Abbott (Boston Children's Hospital), and Karin Schmidt (Northwestern University)
  • Surviving Organizational Change: Nicholas Diehl (Inter-American Development Bank), Melissa Broderick (Harvard University), and Gretchen Scheidler (McKinsey & Company)
  • Using Data from the Practice Survey and Your Survey to Support Your Advocacy: Tim Hedeen (Kennesaw State University) and Mary Rowe (MIT)
The event will cost $275 for IOA members, $150 for students and retired members, and $475 for nonmembers. (September Symposium.)

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