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MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Date/Time: December 12, 2018, 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Location: USDA, 1400 Independence Ave, SW, 1st Floor, Room 1052(c) and Dial-in

Agenda:

1. Update on COFO website 

2. Mentoring Program Update

3. Discussion Topic

4. Looking Back: Recapping “The Year in COFO”

5. Looking Forward: What do you want to see from COFO in 2019?

6. Announcements 

Highlights:

1. Website Technical Issues

a. Currently the COFO website is functioning at a normal status.

b. Functional issues with the website may be due to browser/server issues. Try accessing 

the website via different browsers such as work/home computers or cells. 

2. Mentoring Program Update

i. The Mentoring committee continues to meet bimonthly. Currently, the group is 

focusing in the following areas:

1. Mentor/Mentee Selections: Mentors selection and mentee matches 

have been made and matched successfully. 11 mentees have been 

matched with their mentors. Guy Weber has been selected as a mentor 

reservist. 

2. Orientation: The mentor committee will be providing a 30 minute 

orientation for mentors and mentees, independently via a webinar, 

followed by Q&A. 

b. If you have any questions, please contact David Michael (David.Michael@nih.gov). 

3. Discussion Topic: Ombudsing & Partnerships

a. How do you navigate ombudsing a particular office in your agencies when you also need 

to work with that office programmatically? An example presented was partnering with 

Human Resources (HR). 

i. Participants shared best practices of how they would handle ombudsing with a 

particular office in their agencies. Examples include,
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1. The importance of building rapport in a professional working 

relationship, one that encourages an understanding of independent 

boundaries.

2. Holding difficult conversations as a function of the ombuds office to 

address checks and balances in every department including, Human 

Resources. 

3. An emphasis on the importance and necessity of an ombuds to 

consistently act upon foundational practices when addressing 

wrongdoing. It allows for the ombuds to remain true to the values of 

the role, cautiously avoiding “bleeding” out of lines. 

ii. Suggestion: continue to develop professional partnerships that offer trust and 

rapport, encouraging difficult conversations to take place, when needed. 

iii. Takeaway: When addressing inappropriate practices with an internal partner, it 

is important to act upon the ombuds principles of practice to ensure neutrality 

and independence are not compromised to attain a successful working 

relationship. 

4. Looking Back: Recapping “The Year in COFO”

a. IOA Annual Conference 2018: Small group of COFO members, Patrick Holman, Lisa 

Levine, Joanne Dea and Laurel Gordon designed and led the framework for the 

government sector discussion around the theme “Tools in Times of Change”. The theme 

spun off into numerous discussions that took place during the monthly COFO

membership conference call. 

b. Records Committee: A new committee was formed to discuss the strategy of records 

keeping and way forward. 

c. COFO Mentorship Committee: COFO has launched its first ever mentorship committee, 

executed on the working document developed by Wendy Kamenshine and David 

Michael. The mentoring committee is gaining ground to other ADR practitioners in the 

Federal Government seeking to branch independent mentoring groups.

d. COFO Annual Conference: Successfully attended by 200 participants online and in 

person. The conference was well received in engagement and content. 

e. Ombuds Day 2018: The first ever launch of the ombuds day was successfully attended 

by individuals from various sectors including COFO, academia and private sectors. The 

event was well received by the conflict resolution practitioners. COFO members who 

volunteered their efforts in the success of the event include, Wendy Kamenshine (CFPB), 

Lauren Marx (Chi Resolution), and Tangita Daramola (CMS/HHS). 

f. Ombuds Consultancy and Design: A few members of the COFO Executive Committee 

members had the opportunity to consult in advancing the profession of opening new 

ombuds programs in the federal sector based on expertise, knowledge and know-how. 

5. Looking Forward: What do you want to see from COFO in 2019?

a. The Executive Committee would like to hear from you, what do you want to see from 

COFO in 2019? Please send your ideas and thoughts to a COFO Executive Committee 

member or email COFO Chair, Paul Sotoudeh (Paul.Sotoudeh@USPTO.GOV). 

b. The Executive Committee is interested is calling for suggestions on potential themes and 

date for the annual conference. 
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6. Announcements 

a. CFPB has released their annual report to the Director, thereafter it will be released for the 

public. 

b. COFO Mentorship Program: COFO’s mentorship program has brought forward high energy. 

As a result, Inter-Agency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group (IADRWG) is 

interested in launching a similar mentoring program.

c. Ombuds Day 2019: The success of Ombuds Day 2018 has gained momentum and high 

energy. It’s almost 2019, which means it’s time to start planning for next year’s ombuds 

events. Ombuds Day 2019 will be October 10th, and the ABA Dispute Resolution Section is 

seeking out volunteers from the federal ombuds community for the 2019 Ombuds Day Task 

Force. Volunteers do not need to be ABA members, but do need to be committed to making 

Ombuds Day a success by developing a vision and plan (which may include 1-4 events 

nationwide and an online campaign) alongside the other Task Force members. Task Force 

planning meetings will begin in January, and the ABA DRS will support the Task Force with 

money, materials, resources, and staff. If you’re interested, please reach out to Liz Hill 

(Elizabeth.Hill@colorado.edu) or Paul Sotoudeh (Paul.Sotoudeh@USPTO.GOV). 

d. USOA Conference: The United States Ombudsman Association has announced that it will 

hold its 40th Annual Conference September 18-20, 2019 at the Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel in 

Honolulu, HI. Pre-conference workshops will be offered September 16-17, 2019. Details of 

the 2019 Annual Conference will be posted as they become available. The conference host 

will be Hawaii Ombudsman, Robin Matsunaga, whose office is marking its 50th anniversary, 

the first classical ombudsman office established in the United States.

e. The International Ombudsman Association annual conference in New Orleans April 1-3, 

2019 in New Orleans, LA. The Foundations Course be offered prior to the conference from 

March 29-31. For more information, please visit: IOA Conference 2019. 

f. COFO’s winter gathering/party this Friday at 4 PM at St. Arnold’s Mussel Bar, 3433 

Connecticut Avenue NW, in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC. Please join your COFO 

colleagues for a relaxed early evening of outstanding conversation.
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Attendees:

In-Person

Maurer, Bill – Department of Energy

Sotoudeh, Paul – United States Patent and Trademark Office

Webb, Robert – Armed Forces Retirement Home

Weber, Guy --National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Call-In

Barrar, Riley – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Balick, Howard – Department of Health and Human Services

Bedlivy, Dawn - National Security Agency

Bloch, Brian – Department of Interior 

Berg, Mollie – National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Bookstein, Monique – Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Brown, Andrea – United States Patent and Trademark Office

Doyle, Bill – U.S. Secret Service

Epps, Ayanna – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Fox, Angela – U.S. Department of Agriculture

Garmon, Felisa – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Gnatt, Sheldon – National Security Agency 

Gordon, Laurel – United States Department of Justice

Heffernan, Claire- Transportation Security Administration

Landau, Natalie – State Dept.

Levine, Lisa - Department of Justice

McGuire, Carrie – Office of Government Information Services

Merrix, Celeste – Department of Homeland Security

Michael, David – National Institutes of Health 

Miller, Robin - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Miller-Sander, Dawn - Conflict Transformation Associates 

Patel, Bina – National Ground Intelligence Center

Smith, Tyler – National Institutes of Health

Stukes, Jock – National Reconnaissance Organization

Wolfe, Lexi – Transportation Security Administration

Whittington, Frederick – Untied States Department of Labor, OIG