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MEETING MINUTES 

Meeting Date/Time:  April 11, 2018, 1:30pm – 3:00pm 

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

Agenda: 

1. Listserv Technical Issues 

2. IOA Annual Conference reminder and Government Sector meeting update 

3. NARA Records Schedule Group Update 

4. ABA Ombudsman Committee Report 

5. Annual COFO Conference update 

6. Mentoring Program Update 

7. Announcements  

8. Discussion Topic: Resolution of Interagency Conflict 

Highlights: 

1. Listserv Technical Issues 

a. Functional issues have emerged in recent weeks with the COFO Listserv approval 

process.  

b. Emails submitted to the listserv are supposed to be automatically forwarded to the 

COFO Chair and Coordinators for distribution approval – this has not been occurring as 

designed. 

c. Technical personnel at the federal agency responsible for hosting the Listserv have been 

contacted and the problem is being investigated.   

d. If you need any assistance posting to the Listserv, please reach out to Paul Sotoudeh 

(Paul.Sotoudeh@uspto.gov), Heather Milner (Heather.Milner@cfpb.gov), or Tyler Smith 

(Tyler.Smith@nih.gov)  

2. IOA Government Sector Meeting Update 

a. The 2018 International Ombudsman Association Conference, to be held April 23‐25 in 

Richmond, VA, will include a number of concurrent sector‐specific meetings, including 

one focused on government ombuds. This meeting will be held from 9:30 – 10:30am on 

Tuesday, April 24. 

b. A small group of COFO members designed the framework for the government sector 

meeting around the theme “Tools in Times of Change”.  

c. Session participants will separate into small groups focused on one of four sub‐topics: 

Addressing Systemic Issues, Keeping Above the Fray, Serving as a Courageous 

Ombudsman, and Building Relationship with the New Team. 
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d. Group discussions will enable participants to ask questions and share best practices and 

lessons learned, while networking with fellow government sector ombuds. 

e. Opportunities to continue networking/discussions amongst government sector ombuds 

will be promoted, including Tuesday’s conference‐hosted lunch and an informal offsite 

lunch on Wednesday. Opportunities will be advertised on Whova, IOA’s conference app 

for mobile devices. 

f. Feedback from COFO members indicated some interest in continuing discussions of the 

sub‐topics at future COFO monthly meetings. 

3. NARA Records Schedule Group Update 

a. Thank you to those volunteering to assist the Executive Committee in working with 

NARA on developing standard record schedules for ombuds programs.  

b. The COFO Chair has reached out to those who have volunteered with final 

determinations. If you volunteered and were not contacted, please contact the Chair. 

c. COFO membership will be provided updates on progress at future monthly meetings. 

4. ABA Ombudsman Committee Report 

a. Each February, the American Bar Association’s Ombuds Committee is featured in ABA’s 

Just Resolutions e‐newsletter. The February 2018 edition may be viewed here ‐ 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/publications/JustResolutions/

feb2018‐e‐news.html. Anyone may contribute an article to the newsletter for 

consideration. 

b. The ABA Board recently approved an Ombuds Committee proposition to establish 

October 11, 2018 as “Ombuds Day”. Activity planning is underway, and will include both 

on‐line and in‐person engagements, including a panel discussion at the ABA. 

i. The planned outcome of “Ombuds Day” is to spread knowledge and encourage 

greater interest in ombuds, engaging a wide variety of stakeholders and topics. 

c. The ABA Ombuds Committee meets every fourth Tuesday on the month at 4pm EDT. 

You do not need to be an ABA member to attend. If you have any questions, please 

contact Wendy Kamenshine (Wendy.Kamenshine@cfpb.gov). 

d. The ABA’s Women in Dispute Resolution Committee has been considering the efficacy 

of diversity elements leveraging work done by the State of New York, which may have 

some interest to COFO members. Updates will be provided in future meetings. 

5. COFO Annual Conference Update 

a. The COFO Annual Conference is tentatively planned to be held at the US Patent and 

Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA) in October. 

b. A conference planning volunteer group is being put together to assist in generating 

ideas for topic areas and speakers. Volunteers are also sought for logistical support on 

the day of the conference.  

c. A Listserv message will go out with relevant contact information. COFO members 

interested in joining are asked to identify themselves to Bina Patel 

(Bina.M.Patel.Civ@mail.mil) and Tyler Smith (Tyler.Smith@nih.gov) by April 30. 

6. Mentoring Program Update 

a. The purpose of the program is to promote best practices and encourage cross‐

fertilization amongst COFO members and their organizations. 
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b. Program design is complete and has been shared with a small group of reviewers before 

submission to the Executive Committee.  

c. Some key parameters – 

i. Mentors should have three years’ experience as practicing ombuds; Mentees 

should be practicing ombuds. 

ii. Applicants to both positions will apply to a mentoring committee for 

acceptance; the committee will match mentors with mentees based on function 

and other parameters. There will be 2 matching rounds per year (January and 

June) 

iii. Generally speaking, designers are looking at 2 hour/month commitments for 6‐

12 months of both mentors and mentees. 

d. If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Kamenshine 

(Wendy.Kamenshine@cfpb.gov) and David Michael (David.Michael@nih.gov).  

7. Announcements 

a. Ride‐sharing for the IOA Conference – please reach out to the Listserv if you are 

interested in ride‐sharing to the IOA Conference in Richmond, VA. 

b. Shared Neutrals Program – It was announced in the April 11 Interagency Dispute 

Resolution Working Group that HHS will discontinue its coordination support for the 

Shared Neutrals Program for the National Capital Area due to budget constraints. A path 

forward for continuing the service has not been determined. Questions included 

whether there was a possible COFO role in encouraging the program’s continuation. 

8. Discussion Topic: Resolution of Interagency Conflicts 

a. To what degree do ombuds offices work across agencies to resolve differences of 

opinion or to promote clarity – for example, when there is disagreement on taking 

credit for accomplishments? 

b. From the discussion, there does not appear to be wide spread, interagency 

engagement. In at least one case, an office was chartered to support such engagements 

but had not yet exercised that authority. 

c. Related questions arose, including – 

i. Implications for neutrality if an ombuds for one agency is engaged to assist the 

resolution of an interagency dispute. 

ii. Implications for making ombuds services available to others not directly 

affiliated with your organization (e.g., a stakeholder group). 

   
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Attendees: 

In‐Person 

Brown, Amy – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Gordon, Laurel – Department of Justice 

Holman , Patrick ‐‐ Department of Energy 

Maurer, Bill – Department of Energy 

Pritzker, David – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Sotoudeh, Paul – United States Patent and Trademark Office 

Call‐In 

Achuko, Devara – Department of Homeland Security 

Balick, Howard – Department of Health and Human Services 

Behr, Virginia – Department of Health and Human Services 

Daramola, Tangita – Department of Health and Human Services 

Fox, Angela – United States Department of Agriculture 

Garmon, Felisa – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Gartlan, Jennifer – Federal Maritime Commission 

Green‐Phillips, Angela – National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health 

Kamenshine, Wendy – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Kelly, John – Small Business Administration 

Larkins, Marcia – Department of Health and Human Services 

Majdiak , Sarah – Community Relations Service 

Marx, Lauren – Chi Associates 

McGuire, Carrie – Office of Government Information Services 

McNeil, Tracey – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 

Merrix, Celeste – Department of Homeland Security 

Michael , David – Department of Health and Human Services 

Milner, Heather – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Morey, Chauncenette – Department of Justice 

Patel, Bina – National Ground Intelligence Center 

Peak, Todd – Department of the Treasury 

Raines, Eric – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Semo, Alina – National Geospatial Intelligence Agency 

Smith, Tyler – Department of Health and Human Services 

Valdez, Roberta – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

Walker, Don – Department of Defense 

Watson, Michelle – Department of Defense 

Wolfe, Lexi – Small Business Administration 

Wright, Donald – US Department of Agriculture 

Wynder, Rea – Department of Homeland Security 

Zeller, Jessica – Department of Health and Human Services 

Zrubek, Tom – Department of Defense