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MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Date and Time: January 12, 2022, 1:30-3:00 pm (ET)

Location: WebEx

Agenda:

1. COFO Executive Committee Nominations and Elections

2. A word from the ABA Dispute Resolution Section

3. Charter and Governance Workgroup Update

4. Mentoring Committee Update

5. Social Media Committee Update

6. Reminder – COFO website needs a new home

7. Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative Reminder

8. Next Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) meeting 01/26/2022

9. Announcements

10. General Questions

11. Discussion Topic - Ombudsman “recordkeeping” protocols – one of our member offices 

is currently working with their agency to determine the best records management 

protocols for their office, and they see some gray areas that they’d like to discuss and 

receive feedback on from the COFO community

Highlights: - In the order of discussion

1. Added Topic: IOA Updated Revision to Standards of Practice

a. Today at noon IOA released an updated revision to Standards of Practice

b. COFO as an organization will comment as necessary

c. Please take a look at these standards and participate in the commenting process as 

it is important for the profession: 

https://ioa.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_dailyplanetblog&view=entry&

year=2021&month=01&day=07&id=106:standards-of-practice-ethical-principles

2. ABA Dispute Resolution Section (DRS) – 10 things about the ABA DRS

a. The DRS has 9000 members, lawyers, students, affiliated professionals, and 

international lawyers: great opportunity for networking across the globe

b. You do not have to be a lawyer to join ABA DRS

c. You can join as many committees as you like which are actual communities of 

practice like the Ombuds Committee and this is free with your membership
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d. DRS members have free access to monthly webinars on a variety of topics and you 

can also participate in creating content for these webinars

e. DRS provides cross-cutting programing for all types of dispute resolution 

professionals across the spectrum that allows the sharing of best practices. As an 

example, January 26, 2022, there will be a webinar with the CEO of Mediators

Beyond Borders International, who will discuss how dispute resolution professionals

can deescalate the public debate

f. DRS offers fellowships where you can work on important projects for the committee

g. DRS members and receive and contribute to the monthly, Just Resolution E-News, 

the quarterly Dispute Resolution magazine, and committee newsletters: great way to 

get published with a 500-word posting in a newsletter or an article in the magazine

h. The DRS Idle Chat Series on YouTube gives you the opportunity to know members 

and for the members to know you during a casual chat that is a fun networking 

opportunity

i. DRS’ Annual Spring Conference features a broad diversity of programming supplied 

by members and distinguished plenary speakers and includes outstanding 

networking opportunities

j. DRS is on the leading edge of educating members about technology and has 

promoted multiple tech expos on various subjects enhancing the practice using tech

along with access to tech experts

k. If considering joining the ABA DRS and have questions, contact Ken at 

Ken.Skodacek@fda.hhs.gov

3. Charter and Governance Workgroup

a. Update from the Charter and Governance Workgroup: Bill Mauer-Chair, Andrea 

Brown, Sarah Trujillo, Bina Patel, Claire Heffernan, and Christine Megee

b. Task for this group is to review some of the foundational documents for any needed 

updates

c. This group believes the charter is a great document for this organization and only 

needs some updating to provide more clarification for questions that have arisen

d. A first draft has been shared with the COFO Executive Committee for their review 

and consideration

e. A rough first draft of the document will soon be shared with the full membership

f. There will be time for input from the whole membership and input is needed from 

everyone to ensure the process is robust

g. The draft proposed will split the current charter into two documents, an 

organizational charter and a leadership charter that outline the roles and 

responsibilities of the leadership

h. There will an opportunity for members to provide written responses for changes to 

the charter and the charter updates may be discussed in one or more membership 

meetings
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i. The Charter and Governance Workgroup Chair stated the changes proposed to the 

charter are not significant fundamental changes; however, there are some nuanced

changes that may require further discussion to ensure the charter information is 

clear and specific

4. Mentoring Committee

a. Cohort five has been launched for 2022 and this week orientation is being hosted for 

mentors and mentees

b. The number of pairs this year is five 

c. Thanks to all in the mentor cadre who applied or reapplied for this year

d. You will hear more about the program as it progresses and more to come next fall 

when the process begins again to start new pairs

e. If anyone has any questions about the program contact Virginia Behr, Bill Maurer, 

Fatimah Mateen, Brenda Doty, or Lisa Levine

5. Social Media Committee

a. Social Media Committee will have its first of four quarterly meeting this year on 

Thursday, January 20, 2022

b. The Social Media Committee was formed to oversee the COFO LinkedIn Group and 

will explore other opportunities to continue our monthly meeting conversation 

online

c. It is a closed group, so it is great platform to ask questions, to add content for 

discussion, and to continue the discussion from meetings, to connect, learn, and 

grow.

d. If you want to join the Social Media Committee, which meets quarterly, please reach 

out to Erica at erica.katherine@fda.hhs.gov.

6. COFO website needs a new home

a. COFO will move from the hosted site by the Department of Education to a new host 

b. COFO has no budget and cannot pay for host thus needs free hosting from a Federal 

agency or other non-profit type entity

c. If your agency is available to host the COFO website on their server or you have a 

suggestion, please contact Paul Sotoudeh Paul.Sotoudeh@USPTO.GOV

7. Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative 

a. Reminder that the Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative is a way to help connect 

ombuds with ombuds who have been approved by their Federal agency for 

voluntary leave transfer.

b. Because of the ombuds role and concerns about independence and impartiality, 

concerns are raised about ombuds asking stakeholders to donate, so this initiative 

was created to avoid such issues.

Commented [LL(1]: It might have been four pairs at the 

time of the meeting, so she may have misspoken, but now 

there are 5 pairs, so I propose just writing 5. Not opposed if 

we need to add a clarifying comment, like this was updated 

after the meeting
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c. If you have questions, reach out to Wendy Kamenshine, 

wendy.kamenshine@cfpb.gov Heather Milner, Heather.Milner@CFPB.GOV or 

Susanne Porch, susanne.porch@nist.gov

8. Next Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) Meeting, 01/26/2022

a. OSO meetings were cancelled at the end of the year due to the holidays and are 

starting again Wednesday, January 26, 2022, from 2pm – 3pm ET

b. Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) is a space COFO created almost two years ago in 

response to the pandemic, for reflection, sharing, community discussion, venting, 

and connecting

9. Executive Committee election update/reminder to vote

a. Current Executive Committee term ends on March 01, 2022

b. This means the process begins to elect the new committee for a two-year term of 

March 1, 2022 – February 29, 2024

c. An election committee has been empaneled to administer the election and 

members are Elisa Enriquez, Jenn Mahony and Bina Patel

d. The nomination period is being extended through the end of the week for all 

positions and specifically for the position of secretary

e. COFO has two persons at each position except chair and currently no one has 

accepted a nomination for secretary 

f. Self-nomination is allowed and is great to show your excitement about the position

g. Nomination list will go out mid to late next week along with the email with the 

voting survey

h. To be on the COFO Executive Committee you need to be a voting member which 

means being an active Federal Ombudsman practicing the standards

10. Announcements

a. none

11. General Questions

a. One ombuds had more of an observation than a question about a large increase in 

visitors with concerns about work life balance and how the great retirement has 

impacted the workforce and workflow 

i. It was noted that it was important to ensure management knows how this is 

concerning to the workforce and how to reward those who are carrying the 

load under the stress of more work with fewer people

ii. Another comment was that a brain drain has started from the top leaving 

those behind with limited experience to help guide them in these very 

advanced roles

iii. There was a previous sense of, if you don’t like it here go somewhere else;

however now it seems to be reconnection to the workforce, but is it coming 

too late?
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iv. One ombuds noted an organization pays a monetary penalty for not 

engaging its workforce

v. One external ombuds noted there is an extra layer of anger coming from 

some individuals that aligns with the frustration that is being felt by all in not 

feeling valued

vi. It hard dealing with the level of frustration in the virtual environment and 

not having the camaraderie of the office space

12. Discussion Topic: Ombudsman “recordkeeping” protocols – one of our member offices 

is currently working with their agency to determine the best records management 

protocols for their office, and they see some gray areas that they’d like to discuss and 

receive feedback on from the COFO community

a. One ombuds wondered about best practices regarding records managements, risk 

management, and internal controls and what is retained in terms of records

b. For example, one office maintains the program charter, mission directives, and 

records of office changes, but does not keep email correspondence 

c. A question was also asked, “Has any ombuds been asked to submit things like 

statements of assurance or worked with internal control staff at your agency?”

d. One ombuds stated an internal protocol was being created at their office related 

to confidentiality and is curious about what is written related internal ombuds 

practices to ensure confidentially in the federal government

e. Another ombuds stated they created a data and security document that could be 

shared with anyone who needed it (contact COFO coordinators for more info)

f. It was stated that all ombuds should prioritize creating a records retention

schedule to ensure records are destroyed in a timely fashion which helps to ensure 

confidentiality

g. A records schedule will help you to destroy a record as soon as resolution is 

reached for the issue you are working and without this you do not have anything 

that allows you to dispose of that record

h. Improper access of a record is the greatest risk to confidentiality of records and 

the chances lessen with a good records schedule that is implemented and 

reinforced in your program

i. It can take time to ensure your records schedule is promulgated and some ombuds 

stated it took up to three years

j. One ombuds asked if others had meetings with others in their agency to ensure 

records are destroyed, i.e., backup of emails or other electronic records that may

have other copies

k. You may need to get IT support to ensure emails that are deleted are truly purged 

from the servers

l. One ombuds noted that sweeps of electronic files may be made for FOIA, or court 

required actions and the ombuds should work with IT to ensure the ombuds 

program files are not apart of those electronic collections

m. Another ombuds stated they do not use electronic communication for most 

conversations with visitors
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n. In the web chat it was noted that Microsoft Teams used by many agencies may 

record meetings and that this has occurred. Other chat communications are 

logged to a general server at regular intervals and maybe should not be used for 

communication with visitors

o. One ombuds worked with the Chief Counsel and the Cyber Chief of their agency to 

create a memo to ensure none of their records could be accessed to mitigate risk 

as well

p. Also, it was noted that with any chance you get you should remind visitors not to 

send information via email to help protect their confidentiality

q. It was also noted the conversation was more about confidentiality than the risk 

most ombuds think about with records; however there is administrative element 

that goes with being a Federal employee to consider maybe in a future 

conversation

Attendance 01/12/2022

Last First Agency CallIn

Anderson Jeff DOE 1

Behr Virginia FDA 1

Berg Mollie DOD / National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) 1

Bookstein Monique Prince William County Public Schools 1

Cameron Bob CFPB 1

Coffman Cherina NGA 1

Davenport Dayes Nicky FEMA 1

DeBerry Marcella NSA 1

Doyle Bill Secret Service 1

Enriquez Elisa Los Alamos Laboratory (DOE) 1

Garmon Felisa CFPB 1

Gersten David DHS 1

Gill Sarah FINRA 1

Gordon Laurel DOJ / U. S. Marshals Service (USMS) 1

Green Veronica State OIG 1

Heffernan Claire TSA 1

Hendrickson Caitlan FEMA 1

Holland Shavon Dept of Education 1

Hopkins Emilee NGA 1

Hurley Nathan FDA / Center for Tobacco Products 1
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Last First Agency CallIn

Kamenshine Wendy CFPB 1

Katherine Erica FDA 1

Kinnavy Noreen USAGM 1

Lawrence Steve DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis 1

Lenkel Laurie FDA 1

Levine Lisa DOJ / Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) 1

Lewis Mark D. FDA 1

Magnus Vicki Library of Congress 1

Mahony Jennifer Boston Childrens Hospital 1

Manderson Katie VA 1

Maurer Bill Census 1

McNeil Tracey SEC 1

Megee Christine DOD Education Activity 1

Michael David NIH 1

Miller Carla DOJ / ATF 1

Milner Heather CFPB 1

Morey Chauncenette FBI 1

Patel Bina USPTO 1

Porch Susanne Commerce / National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST)

1

Portonovo Sheela NARA 1

Robinson Belinda FBI 1

Rojas Nick DOD / DIA 1

Rowe Mary Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1

Simpson Candace 1

Skodacek Ken FDA 1

Smith Julie Census 1

Smith Tyler NIH 1

Sotoudeh Paul USPTO 1

Starr Judith ABA Dispute Resolution Section 1

Stergio Marcus Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs / DOL 1

Swann Benita FDIC 1

Thomson Ronnie Sandia National Laboratories 1

Trujillo Sarah USDA 1
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Last First Agency CallIn

Vermillion Chris DOE 1

Voloshin Victor NIH 1

Walker Olivia DOD / Army Medical Readiness Assistance Program 1

Weber Guy DOD / NGA 1

White Karen DOD / National Guard Bureau 1

Wolfe Lexi DOE 1

Yuille Banford Deanna DOD / Defense Human Resources Activity 1

Total 60