UNCLASSIFIED 

1 

UNCLASSIFIED

MEETING MINUTES 

Meeting Date and Time: December 8, 2021, 1:35-2:58 pm (EST) 

Location: WebEx 

Agenda: 

1. COFO Nominating Committee and the upcoming Executive Committee elections 

2. Status of COFO mailing lists 

3. COFO Website 

4. COFO Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative 

5. Next Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) meeting 1/26/22 

6. Announcements – Training opportunities, job openings, or really any office and 

ombudsman happenings you'd like to tell the world about 

7. General Questions - Space for programs to ask questions and get feedback from the 

COFO community in a short discussion format 

8. Discussion Topics 

o Have you noticed a change in your visitors since the pandemic began? Some of 

our offices have reported (among other things) increased anger, a greater sense 

of entitlement, or a lot more anxiety. Let’s discuss, compare notes, and talk 

about strategies for serving these visitors. 

o The so-called “elevator speech” is an important tool for any ombuds to quickly 

explain the value of the ombuds role and resource to stakeholders. So what’s in 

your elevator speech? Let’s think about the things we need to say and the best 

ways to say them. 

9. Reminders 

Highlights: 

1. COFO Nominating Committee and the upcoming Executive Committee elections 

a. Current Executive Committee term ends 3/1/2022, as term is two years long.

b. Charter calls for Nominating Committee to administer the election—take 

nominations, assess eligibility to run and vote, and to count ballots.

c. Volunteers are Jenn Mahony, Elisa Enriquez, and Bina Patel; thanks to all of them 

d. Consider running for an Executive Committee role if you are a voting member of 

COFO, which entails serving as a Federal ombuds; individuals can be nominated or 

you can nominate yourself.

e. Chair is a single person, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Coordinator positions can be held 

by two people.
UNCLASSIFIED 

2 

UNCLASSIFIED

f. Chair leads the organization and runs the meetings; Vice-Chairs assist and act in the 

absence of the Chair; Secretaries keep the records, take minutes, tally votes outside 

of Executive Committee elections; Coordinators maintain lists, conduct outreach, 

and receive notice to the organization.

g. Voting members will receive one vote for Chair and two each for Vice-Chair, 

Secretary, and Coordinator.

h. The difference between voting and non-voting members of COFO is that voting 

members are serving as Federal ombuds and practice to the Standards of 

independence, confidentiality, and impartiality. Non-voting members do not have to 

serve as ombuds; for example, they may be interested in ADR or ombuds work or 

may be retired. Non-voting members are an important part of the COFO community.

i. Nominating committee will open the nominations for a month and then hold 

elections in January 2022 with the announcement of the new Executive Committee 

expected at the February 2022 COFO meeting.

j. Contractors cannot vote at the moment, as the Charter indicates that individuals 

have to be Federal employee ombuds. Work is ongoing to clarify the Charter with 

the Charter and Governance Workgroup and the Executive Committee.

k. Consider running for a position or thinking about people you think would be good to 

nominate for the Executive Committee positions.

2. Status of COFO mailing lists 

a. The Google group is officially retired because we could not rely on it to send to all, 

so no more double emails.

b. Present mailing list is one way traffic, not a listserv, so we continue to look for other 

solutions for back and forth discussion.

c. Please advise the Coordinators Laurel Gordon and Heather Milner, who did an 

outstanding job of checking the mailing lists, if you are not receiving COFO emails so 

we can make sure that you are on the mailing list.

3. COFO Website 

a. Still looking for a new home for the COFO website.

b. Department of Education has graciously hosted the COFO website for many years 

and has asked us to look for a place to migrate the website.

c. It can be a Federal agency, quasi-Federal agency, or a private location.

d. COFO has no money, so we are looking for donated server space.

e. If you have any idea or solution, email an Executive Committee member.

4. COFO Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative 

a. COFO Voluntary Leave Transfer Initiative is designed to support ombuds who have 

been approved for voluntary leave by their agency.

b. It may be difficult for ombuds to ask for voluntary leave donations due to the nature 

of the work or role they play in an organization.
UNCLASSIFIED 

3 

UNCLASSIFIED

c. This initiative allows us to donate leave across Federal agencies and support our 

ombuds community.

d. Any questions, reach out to Wendy Kamenshine, Heather Milner, or Susanne Porch.

5. Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) Meeting 

a. OSO meetings are led by Heather Milner.

b. They are offered as a way to connect and/or let off steam and support each other.

c. Meetings are typically held on the fourth Wednesday of the month but no meeting 

will take place in December.

d. Next meeting is January 26, 2022 from 2:00-3:00 pm EST.

6. Announcements 

a. None

7. General Questions 

a. None 

8. Discussion Topics 

a. Have you noticed a change in your visitors since the pandemic began? Some of our 

offices have reported (among other things) increased anger, a greater sense of 

entitlement, or a lot more anxiety. Let’s discuss, compare notes, and talk about 

strategies for serving these visitors.

i. Guy Weber and Mollie Berg led the discussion. 

ii. Some have seen a whole lot of change in behavior, mostly related to 

COVID, in the internal space. 

iii. Initially, individuals had concerns about return to work, the vaccine 

mandate, and what is safe and meaningful. 

iv. General sense of shortness, a change of behavior, with folks. 

v. An internal ombuds noted that initially there was not too much of a 

difference and recognized that their visitors have job-related concerns, 

while externally facing clientele deal with visitors possibly having a range 

of desperations. 

vi. External ombuds has seen a big increase in visitors this year and unsure if 

it is pandemic-related. 

vii. Many Federal agencies have not moved back from maximum telework, so 

there is a perceived unfairness in comparing agencies, as some Federal 

work does not allow for 100% telework. Some have flexibility, like 

telework 2-3 days/week. 

viii. Inflection point--some Federal workers returned to in-person work or 

never went home while some are still at home. 

ix. Before COVID, telework was not more than a limited option in one 

agency, but the pandemic has opened the door to people asking what the 

options are. 
UNCLASSIFIED 

4 

UNCLASSIFIED

x. Uptick in number of people coming in with existing anxieties exacerbated 

by the pandemic. 

xi. An agency is considering a second campaign to encourage greater civility 

and acts of kindness, to rebuild a sense of community. Last year’s 

campaign had to do with election and civility. Used to value the holiday 

party but not doing that this year, so they are coming up with something 

to fill the void and remind each other of the best of human nature. 

xii. One challenge is that a lot of social time is gone. 

xiii. Social interaction problems initially diminished during the pandemic, but 

some are seeing that pattern return. 

xiv. Some people seem to be more impatient, want things done quickly and 

virtually. 

xv. Some mentioned that people are more standoffish. 

xvi. Folks have been working in a certain way for a long time, so they have a 

sense of expectation that the agency is going to understand and have 

learned from what we have gone through, what’s gone well. Early on, 

there was a time of adjustment to telework. Will the agency maintain it 

for the future? Tenor has changed in the last six weeks as discussions 

concern re-entry. 

xvii. How much of the creativity and flexibility will be possible? Some agencies 

will not be going back to what was before. The boundaries have changed. 

xviii. Some agencies promised 60 days of notice before going back and will not 

be going back to what it was before. 

xix. This goes to competitiveness, to attracting talent, a retention tool. It is a 

workers’ market. Will people be told they have to go back in-person, 

while they have shown that they can do their job from home? Some may 

leave. 

xx. Organizational agility is being questioned by external and internal 

visitors. Internals—What if employees refuse to do what agency asks? 

Are organizations equipping managers on how people can be team 

players in this new environment? Externals—Expectation that 

organization can rebound. Is organization prepared? 

xxi. It depends how employees say they are not going to do something, as it 

could potentially be insubordination depending on how they say that. 

Ways to do that that are positive vs. ways that require discipline. 

xxii. Unintended consequences and conflict cycle and responsibility of conflict 

being discussed in agency. 

xxiii. World has changed so much; people are asserting autonomy and have 

greater expectation of being involved in decision-making, to be engaged. 

Is management engaging employees on what the nature of work will be? 

xxiv. Some have seen slight uptick in people saying they are considering 

looking for work elsewhere and people asking about career 

advancement. 
UNCLASSIFIED 

5 

UNCLASSIFIED

xxv. Insubordination can be loaded for many; could be clear or solely 

substantive disagreement. 

xxvi. More confidence that people can find work elsewhere. 

xxvii. In the beginning of the pandemic, external ombuds noted that people 

were very angry, a lot of sadness and anxiety. Visitors are now beginning 

to articulate what they want more, including more flexibility from 

government. They want their voices to be heard. An ombuds noted that 

they try to listen more thoughtfully, give people more breaks in silence, 

take more time for careful listening. People start to get to heart of the 

matter. 

b. The so-called “elevator speech” is an important tool for any ombuds to quickly 

explain the value of the ombuds role and resource to stakeholders. So what’s in your 

elevator speech? Let’s think about the things we need to say and the best ways to 

say them. 

i. Quick, couple of minutes to explain what the ombuds does and introduce 

the role. 

ii. An internal ombuds explains that they serve employees and are 

confidential, impartial, and independent; usually include piece about 

conflict resolution and informational, coaching, and advisory resource. 

iii. One ombuds likes to think of it as an accordion with core things to say 

and can compress or expand, as necessary. One can think of it in terms of 

time, like two sentences if one is on the elevator for two floors; one can 

add a few sentences if one is going up 10 floors. Useful for outreach, as 

you can make a five minute presentation or an hour. What will you add, 

and what can you toss out? 

iv. Can think of a long escalator ride speech if you have more time. 

v. Can begin with your outreach presentation and boil it down to the most 

important issues to share. 

vi. Suggestion to practice as if you are hopping on an elevator and start 

talking, literally mini-presentations of two-three sentences. 

vii. An external ombuds noted that they tie in some mission responsibilities 

of the program, how does ombuds support the organization? 

viii. One ombuds explains how work they are doing makes the organization 

higher functioning. 

ix. You may need an elevator, an escalator, and a one-sentence warp speed 

speech. You build depending on how much time you have with the 

audience. 

9. Reminders 

a. If you are interested in an Executive Committee position and have questions, reach 

out to any Executive Committee and/or look at Charter. 
UNCLASSIFIED 

6 

UNCLASSIFIED

b. Holidays can be a wonderful time, sharing and connection. Remember that it can be 

a very stressful or difficult time for people. Remember to support ourselves, our 

stakeholders, and each other. 

c. Next meeting is January 12, 2022. 

 

Attendance 12/8/2021 

Last First Agency Call-In 

Anderson Jeff DOE 1 

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

Bookstein Monique FBI 1 

Cecil Tina FBI 1 

Coffman Cherina NGA 1 

Dorn Dedra FDIC 1 

Elson Kayla 1 

Enriquez Elisa Los Alamos Laboratory (DOE) 1 

Foisy Paul-Dominick State 1 

Garmon Felisa CFPB 1 

Gill Sarah FINRA 1 

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

Heffernan Claire TSA 1 

Holland ShaVon Dept. of Education 1 

Hopkins Emilee NGA 1 

Jarrett Syreeta DIA 1 

Kamenshine Wendy CFPB 1 

Katherine Erica FDA 1 

Lawrence Steve DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis 1 

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

Mahony Jennifer Boston Childrens Hospital 1 

Maurer Bill Census 1 

Michael David NIH 1 

Miller Carla DOJ / ATF 1 

Milner Heather CFPB 1 

Patel Bina USPTO 1 

Piziali Jamie EPA 1 

Porch Susanne Commerce / National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) 1 

Robinson Belinda FBI 1 
UNCLASSIFIED 

7 

UNCLASSIFIED

Last First Agency Call-In 

Rojas Nick DOD / DIA 1 

Roth Lewis NRO 1 

Rowe Mary Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1 

Smith Julie Census 1 

Sotoudeh Paul USPTO 1 

Stergio Marcus Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs / DOL 1 

Tisdale Laurice HHS / CMS 1 

Valdez Roberta FDIC (RETIRED) 1 

Vermillion Chris TSA 1 

Villafane Jacqueline American Red Cross 1 

Voloshin Victor NIH 1 

Walker Olivia DOD / Army Medical Readiness Assistance Program 1 

Weber Guy DOD / NGA 1 

Wolfe Lexi DOE 1 

Yuille Banford Deanna DOD / Defense Human Resources Activity 1 

 Total 43