The CIC Ombuds Resource

Independent. Impartial. Informal. Confidential.

If you experience any kind of workplace issue and you are not sure what to do or who to talk to, the ombuds team is here for you!

We can help with any workplace issue, including:

Visitor Resources

Here’s a bank of resources for articles, videos, tip sheets that can help you strategize and develop skills to help you overcome communication and conflict challenges.

FAQs

Please see this page for answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the ombuds resource.

About the Ombuds Team at CIC:

CIC employees are welcome to contact one of the ombuds below to discuss your concerns and options for resolution. Even though CIC has ombuds dedicated to each CIC campus worldwide, CICers are welcome to contact any ombuds they would like to work with.

CIC North America

Jamel Harling (jamel-ombuds@mwi.org and 202-394-5796) is an experienced ombuds, executive coach, and trusted advisor who helps high-growth organizations navigate complexity, conflict, and change with clarity and confidence. She serves as an impartial, independent resource for staff, managers, and leadership teams, supporting healthy workplace dynamics, strengthening decision-making, and fostering cultures of trust, accountability, and innovation. Jamel previously served as the Ombuds for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and led the United States Intelligence Community Ombuds Forum, following her role as Deputy Chief Management Officer. A retired federal senior executive with more than two decades of leadership experience, she is highly skilled at guiding organizations through sensitive issues involving conflict management, organizational behavior, and executive leadership. Drawing on her experience in complex, fast-moving, and high-stakes environments, Jamel brings a systems-aware, solutions-focused perspective that reduces organizational friction and helps diverse stakeholders collaborate effectively. Her work empowers individuals and teams to address concerns early, strengthen communication, and build resilient, high-performing cultures. Jamel is trained through the International Ombuds Association (IOA) and certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). She has completed certificate programs in Strategic Decision and Risk Management from Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development, Conflict Resolution from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and executive leadership from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. She holds a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence. Contact Jamel at jamel-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling 202-394-5796.

Chuck Doran (chuck-ombuds@mwi.org) is an experienced ombuds, mediator, and dispute resolution trainer. Chuck is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) and a member of the International Ombudsman Association who completed ombuds training with the IOA in 1995. Chuck has served as an ombuds for the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution and serves as an external organizational ombuds for a companies and universities around the US. In addition to his ombuds work, Chuck works nationally and internationally as a dispute resolution trainer and consultant with corporate, governmental and non-profit clients including Coca-Cola Enterprises, General Motors, Bose Corporation, and the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation and chaired two regional ADR Conferences in 1997 and 1999. Chuck served as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and was Chair of the Qualifications Subcommittee. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Advisory Group and is a past president of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter. Chuck is also a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and a past president of IAM’s Board of Governors. Read about Chuck’s work as an ombuds by clicking here. Book a time to talk with Chuck at: https://calendly.com/chuckdoran or by calling 617-895-4026.

CIC Rotterdam, CIC Berlin

Willem Kweens (willem-ombuds@mwi.org) is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (COOP) who began his work as an ombuds within Mars Inc. in 2009. Willem was initially responsible for Central- and Eastern Europe and for Western Europe (approx. 15.000 Associates spread across 60+ sites). He served factories and multi-segmented offices at Mars. The Mars Ombuds-Team reported into the CEO of Mars and served as an alternative communication channel where associates could share work related issues, based on the four cornerstones of IOA’s Standards of Practice. Willem was also part of setting up an additional virtual ombuds tool within Mars and was responsible for tendering, designing, and implementing this completely virtual environment to serve 70-80k Associates globally. In addition to providing ombuds services for employees, Willem was responsible for the finance/budgets and multiple ombuds-team OD / reorganizations within the team. In addition, he served as an IOA Board member, was a member of the IOA Executive Committee, and served as an IOA Finance Committee member/Assistant Treasurer. Willem provides his clients with the following skills and commitments which include being a good listener, having a lot of patience, all while being diplomatic and respectful to other people without losing his managerial courage to do what needs to be done. Willem is fluent in Dutch, German and English. Contact Willem via willem-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +31 612 960 403.

CIC Tokyo

Keiko Suzuki (keiko-ombuds@mwi.org) has extensive experience in human resource management, executive coaching, mediation, training, and consulting throughout her twenty-year career with JPMorgan, General Electric, and Estee Lauder Group of Companies in Tokyo and New York City. As a consultant, Keiko has experience with a broad spectrum of clients including major Japanese and foreign finance, consumer goods, telecommunication, recruiting, and pharmaceutical companies. Keiko specializes in a range of organizational and management development solutions including assessment, change strategy formation, leadership development, offsite meeting facilitation, performance management, and career development. Keiko works directly with senior managers in a coaching capacity, as well as engages in other training and development methods for improving communication, coaching skills, feedback, change management, and diversity & inclusion. Keiko completed the Ombuds Foundations Course with the International Ombuds Association in 2016. Since 2015, she has taught mediation at Kumamoto University and conflict coaching at the Hitotsubashi University Business School (ICS). Keiko is a trained and certified coach (ICF, GTCI Team Coach, NLP & Processwork), EAP counselor, and mediator. She is a practitioner of psychometric assessment instruments including Situational Leadership, Team Management Profile, Strength Development Inventory, Lumina Spark, and Personnel Decisions International Assessment. Contact Keiko via keiko-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +(81) 80-1160-5919.

CIC Warsaw

Jan Gałkowski (jan-ombuds@mwi.org) is an ombuds sociologist (M.A., Ph.D.) and an ethicist (M.A. in Applied Ethics). He teaches social theory and social and research ethics at the Institute of Sociology, University of Rzeszów, Poland. He is also a court-appointed mediator and an academic mediator specializing in employee mediation. In 2021-2022, he was the Rector’s Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment and was responsible, among others, for the resolution of conflicts in situations related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and for creating university policies and procedures to develop a healthy work and study culture. In 2022, he was appointed the first academic ombudsperson at the University of Rzeszów. He is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education (ENOHE), the Anti-discrimination Education Society (TEA), as well as co-founder and member of the board of the Academic Network for Equality and Security (ASBiR). Jan is also a trainer specializing in discrimination, GBV, employee rights, gender equality plans (GEPs), safety and equality in the workplace, inclusive language, listening and communication skills, and the rights of gender-diverse persons. He has spoken at ENOHE conferences and other events. He earned his Master’s at KU Leuven and a Doctorate at The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. Contact Jan via jan-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +48 737 665 606.

Contact

• Email: Email any ombuds at the email addresses provided above.
  • • Please use email for scheduling only. Email and voicemail cannot be guaranteed to be confidential, so do not include any details about your questions, situation, or concerns. If you share the best way to reach you, an ombuds will follow up to schedule an appointment.
• Confidential web form: If you have a concern at work and would like to raise it in confidence, please feel free to fill out the web form below.
  • If you would like to schedule an appointment with an ombuds team member, please include your preferred contact information and indicate which ombuds you would like to work with or whether you prefer to speak with the first available one. To share a concern anonymously, please do not include personally identifiable information. An anonymized summary of your comments may be shared with the organization unless you indicate otherwise on this form.
• Phone: Please contact a member of the ombuds team using the phone number listed above.