Outsourced Ombuds

Ralph Johnson is an experienced Ombuds and trainer with MWI. He served as the America Ombuds for 10 years at McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy, where he helped colleagues address workplace conflicts, including claims of harassment and/or discrimination, career advancement, and personal challenges. He was an active member of the International Ombuds Association and served as a core faculty member for the Foundations of Organizational Ombuds Practice course. Ralph began his career at General Motors where he worked as an engineer, manufacturing foreman, and general foreman. He managed several machining and final assembly departments with 44 hourly (UAW) employees under his supervision. He spent most of his career at McKinsey where he was a management consultant, left the firm for three years to head the Cuyahoga (Cleveland) County Welfare Reform Department, then returned to be people leader for McKinsey’s Operations Practice and people/administrative leader for McKinsey’s Social Sector Office, executive coach in McKinsey’s Black Executive Leadership Program, and senior member of the global McKinsey Black Network. After a 26-year career at McKinsey, he recently served two years as CEO of Breakthrough Public Schools, a network of public charter schools educating over 3,000 elementary students in Cleveland. He holds an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, a BS in Industrial Engineering from Kettering University, and a BS in Business Administration from Aquinas College.

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Outsourced Ombuds

brent-ombuds@mwi.org

Brent Epperson, MPA, PhD is an outsourced ombuds with MWI. A practicing ombuds for 10 years in North America and Europe, Brent is passionate about good governance and developing healthy workplace cultures. An Assistant Professor of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University, in Ottawa, Ontario, Brent teaches and publishes in the areas of ombuds practice, mediation, good governance (health and higher education sectors), issue framing, and policy development to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Brent has ombuds experience in the higher education, financial, and health care industries. He completed his Master of Public Administration at the University of Montana (U.S.), his PhD at the University of Alberta (Canada), and his postdoctoral work at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS, France). A Board Member of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE), Associate Member of the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds (ACCUO), and Member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), he is active in the global ombuds community and committed to expanding ombuds practice to help organizations create more effective conflict management systems. He is fully bilingual in English and French.

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Outsourced Ombuds
ombuds@mwi.org

Eliane Markoff is an outsourced organizational ombuds with MWI. She comes from the financial, business, and academic sectors.  After an initial career in banking, Eliane worked for twenty years for a Fortune 500 high-tech company managing workforces in the United States and Europe. Her background is in Research and Development as well as Sales and Marketing.

Eliane lent her considerable listening and mediation skills as an unofficial ombuds to build bridges among corporate divisions and individuals who needed to collaborate to be successful.  With a high emotional IQ, Markoff brings creative solutions to workplace conflicts.

Markoff was an Adjunct Professor at Bentley University, teaching organizational behavior and conflict resolution to both undergraduate and graduate students.  Prior to rejoining Bentley as Ombuds, she launched the Ombuds Office at Wheelock College after serving on its board of trustees for six years.

Eliane is among the 125 women to appear in the Boston Globe’s Bill Brett’s book, Inspirational Women of Boston.  She is one of the Wellesley residents honored in 2012 by the Wellesley Free Library Foundation as an individual who has had an impact within and beyond the Wellesley Community. Eliane was also honored in 2011 with the Giving Back Award by Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology (WEST). She is a co-founder of the gallery Art in Giving.

Markoff is fluent in French and Arabic and earned her MBA from Boston College and her BA in Economics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

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Outsourced Ombuds
maureen-ombuds@mwi.org

Maureen Brodie is an outsourced organizational ombuds with MWI. She has particular expertise in understanding the culture and addressing challenging dynamics in a healthcare environment, having worked at UC San Francisco for 14 years as an organizational ombuds. As a clinician-trained ombuds with a background in communication, Maureen has a unique perspective and appreciation for the increasing demands in the ever-changing landscape of healthcare delivery. She is an active member of the International Ombuds Association and a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP), adhering to the Standards of Practice in the field. While providing services in an impartial manner, Maureen is an advocate for respect, fairness, and inclusion for all members of an organization. Prior to her work at UC San Francisco, Maureen served as the Senior Mediator at UC Davis for 14 years, providing mediation training and services to campus and health system faculty, clinicians, trainees, and staff. Throughout her career as an ombuds, Maureen incorporates collaborative coaching and learning to normalize conflict with the goal to achieve productive, self-determined outcomes.

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Outsourced Ombuds

703-887-2687| scott-ombuds@mwi.org

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Scott Deyo has nearly three decades of experience in academia, non-profit, and federal sectors as an ombuds, mediator, and trainer. He is an expert at helping organizations build and sustain community-centered cultures that focus on people, their interconnected journey together, and their ability to accomplish great things through collaboration and dialogue. For a decade, Scott was a certified mediator and mentor through the Virginia Supreme Court, and has retained his Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP)® credential since March 2010.

Scott has mediated over 250 employment-related disputes, and has been an ombuds in six organizations, including the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (serving faculty, staff, and graduate students), U.S. Green Building Council, U.S. Department of Energy, National Park Service, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and Department of Defense Office of Inspector General. Within these organizations, Scott helped 4,500 people explore resolution options for 18,000 workplace issues. In addition to his mediation and ombuds work, Scott served as Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

As a champion for advancing the ombuds field, Scott served as Chair of the Coalition of Federal Ombuds, where he sparked the creation of seven new ombuds program, and serves as Chair of the CO-OP® Board’s Professional Practices Committee, which upholds the highest levels of professional standards of certified ombuds. Scott has a master’s degree from George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (2001) and a bachelor’s in psychology (major) and music (minor) from James Madison University (1997).

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Outsourced Ombuds
dina-ombuds@mwi.org

Dina Lynch Eisenberg, JD, MBA is an outsourced ombuds with MWI and is on a mission to introduce the benefits of Ombuds work to more tech companies. Former lawyer, she served as an Organizational Ombuds in a variety of settings, including tech companies, manufacturing, banking as well as colleges and universities. Dina most recently was the Global Head of Ombuds Services for Twitter, designed their program and served as inaugural Organizational Ombuds. With almost a quarter century of experience, Dina founded Ombudsology.com, an Ombuds Advisory firm that offers outsourced ombuds services to mid-sized companies and ombuds career counseling to aspiring ombuds. Her upcoming book, Fixable Culture, is an action guide to transform companies from toxic to trusting through Ombuds programs. Dina is a sought-after speaker and podcast guest. Her ombuds work appears in Entrepreneur and Inc magazines.

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Outsourced Ombuds
keiko-ombuds@mwi.org

Keiko Suzuki is an Outsourced Organizational Ombuds with MWI. She 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.

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Outsourced Ombuds
ombuds@mwi.org

Mark Patterson is an ombuds and negotiation facilitator. He founded the Ombuds Office for California State University Channel Islands, and served on the President’s Advisor Council on Inclusive Excellence there. Before working at CSUCI, Mark served as University Ombuds for the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mark serves on the International Ombuds Association Board of Directors and co-chairs the Advocacy Committee for IOA. He previously served as co-chair for the IOA Conference Committee. He is also an IOA’s Foundations of Organizational Ombuds course instructor. He is a member of the Planning Committee for the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (“Cal Caucus”). Mark has presented at the IOA Annual Conference at Cal Caucus and was a keynote speaker for National Conflict Resolution Day at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Before working as an ombuds, Mark was an award-winning and decorated judge advocate (military lawyer) in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of colonel in 2016. He served in Asia, Europe, and throughout the United States, with multiple deployments in Southwest Asia. He received a B.A. in journalism from Marietta College, Ohio, a J.D. from Duke University, and an LL.M. in International Dispute Resolution from Fordham University.

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Outsourced Ombuds
nnena-ombuds@mwi.org

Nnena Odim is a mediator, ombuds, attorney, trainer, and consultant. She has been mediating since 1997, and has mediated disputes involving issues such as employment, housing, business, consumer, academic/higher education, and the full range of family/domestic relations (divorce, unmarried parents, elder care, adoption, etc.). Nnena has also designed and/or led conflict management trainings for several local and national businesses and agencies, including the Boston Public Schools, Massachusetts Housing Authority, Neighborhood Works, Coca-Cola, and Netflix. In addition to her mediation and conflict resolution training background, Nnena is trained by the International Ombuds Association and has served as an ombuds for CVS, American Planning Association, and several local construction companies. After 25 years, Nnena has recently retired from Harvard Law School, where she was the Director and Senior Clinical Instructor of the Family/Domestic Violence Law Clinic at Harvard’s Legal Services Center. In addition to being an active practicing attorney in Massachusetts Family and Probate Courts, she provided experiential training to law students and taught them how to become effective and ethical attorneys.

Nnena has worked with the Harvard Mediation Program (HMP) and Harvard Program on Negotiation to provide trainings for students and community members, and to supervise Harvard Law School students in their mediation and negotiation studies. She served as a faculty and coach of mediation skills for trainings at Suffolk and Boston College Law Schools, MIT, and New England School of Law. Nnena has also served on numerous panels and speaking rosters for a variety of topics, including those on self-care and mental health for students and faculty, establishing boundaries in a professional setting, race and gender, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Nnena is a member of the HMP Advisory Board. In 2019, Nnena was honored by the Harvard Women’s Law Association International Committee. In 2015, she received the Harvard Law School Dean’s Award for Excellence, and in 2013, Nnena was a Top Women in the Law award recipient from Mass. Lawyers Weekly.

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Outsourced Ombuds
alnoor-ombuds@mwi.org

Alnoor Maherali is a highly skilled diplomat, ombuds, facilitator and CEDR and SIMI-accredited mediator. He offers 20 years of experience working in conflict zones, in the not-for-profit sector, and as a practitioner in the fields of diplomacy, mediation, human rights, and crisis management. His personal and professional travel have taken him to over 50 different countries, making him especially adept at navigating cultural, ethnic, and racial conflict and differences. Alnoor resides in New York City and mediates for MWI, Venn Mediation, the Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services (UNOMS), and the New York Peace Institute (NYPI). He coaches and mentors the next generation of mediators at Harvard, Yale, and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Alnoor also provides training and coaching on negotiation, collaboration, and difficult conversations through MWI and Vantage Partners. His professional accomplishments include the negotiation of resolutions at the United Nations in Geneva and New York, sharing of best practices in disaster response and civil-military coordination with the Government of Brazil, and important roles in the resolution of two high-profile kidnapping cases in Afghanistan. Additionally, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to the community, volunteering with Hospice Care Ottawa for 12 years and serving on their Board of Directors for four. Alnoor has a Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Mathematics from Queen’s University in Canada and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in the US. He was trained by the International Ombuds Association in the Foundations of Organizational Ombuds Practice course.

Outsourced Ombuds
charmhee-ombuds@mwi.org

Charmhee Kim is an experienced ombuds and cross-cultural trainer with MWI. She was an ombuds for 15 years at McKinsey & Company, a global management consultancy, addressing workplace conflicts, career development concerns and other challenges. She has been an active member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA) since 2007 and was trained in its Foundations of Organizational Ombudsman Practice Course which she later taught as faculty. Charmhee served on the IOA Board of Directors and co-chaired its Global Marketing Task Force. Prior to entering the ombuds profession, Charmhee worked as a management consultant, investment banker and public affairs specialist with the United Nations. She holds an MBA from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and an MA from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. Charmhee is trilingual in English, Korean and Mandarin Chinese.

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Outsourced Ombuds
jai-ombuds@mwi.org

Jai Calloway is an experienced, people‐focused ombudsperson with a mission to redefine the way people understand and work together by harnessing the power of difference. Jai has spent over ten years working and studying conflict resolution methodology and its intersection with diversity and inclusion within organizational settings. Jai previously served as Corporate Ombuds for Halliburton Oil Services and serves as an external organizational ombuds for small businesses cross‐industry. She is an alumnus of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law – Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution. Jai was Vice‐Chair of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section and was Chair of the International Ombuds Association Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Task Force. In addition to her work as an ombuds, Jai works as an organizational development consultant where her focuses are conflict resolution, employee engagement and diversity & inclusion.

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Outsourced Ombuds
bina-ombuds@mwi.org

Bina Patel is a highly skilled ombuds, facilitator, and conflict resolution practitioner with MWI. She earned her Doctorate in Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping Analysis from Nova Southeastern University. Bina is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA) and completed IOA’s Foundations of Organizational Ombuds Practice Course. She serves on IOA’s Board of Directors and actively participates as a co-chair/volunteer for the IOA Annual Conference. Bina serves as an instructor for IOA’s core course on Cultural Understanding. Bina has served as an Organizational Ombuds at the Department of Defense, the US Army, and other federal/private/non-profit entities, specifically in emergency response, conflict zones, and governmental and non-profits. Bina’s experience and interests in conflict resolution extend to providing diversity, equity, inclusion, and multiculturalism trainings. Bina enjoys working with large complex systems offering ombuds consultations, services, and conflict coaching opportunities. Bina is a speaker, researcher, and publisher. Bina holds a Master’s in International Business and B.A. in Business Administration.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Larry Hunt is an ombuds with MWI and has worked as the Ombuds for Amherst College since 2019, following a career as HR Director for Smith College, Tufts University, and the J. Paul Getty Museum and Foundation. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Management School. He regularly works with staff, faculty and administrators in conflict coaching, facilitating conversations, mediating disputes, giving referrals and providing upward feedback to effect positive organizational change. Larry has spent his career helping people navigate their way through conflict situations. He brings extensive experience and a strong theoretical background in analyzing and mediating disputes at the interpersonal and organizational level. Larry completed the graduate certificate program in Conflict and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and interned as a mediator in the court system. He was trained by the International Ombuds Association (IOA) in their Foundations of Organizational Ombuds Practice Course. He is an experienced executive and management coach and has consulted in this capacity and as a mediation and employee relations consultant for a wide variety of health care, education, and municipal organizations.

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Outsourced Ombuds
bathabile-ombuds@mwi.org

Bathabile K.S. Mthombeni is an experienced ombuds, mediator, consultant, and coach. She discovered the thrill of Alternative Dispute Resolution as a law student in 2004. In 2006 she accepted her first ombuds position and has been the University Ombudsman for Binghamton University since 2015. Bathabile provides DEIB policy development and implementation services to schools and other organizations. She also provides leadership coaching, facilitation, and racial intelligence and racial mindset coaching, training, and dialogue facilitation services to leadership teams and DEIB committees. In addition to her ombuds and other work, Bathabile is a skilled teacher and workshop facilitator. She has taught classes in negotiation, ombuds practice, and conflict management and dispute resolution at Binghamton University, Columbia University, and John Jay College. Bathabile earned her A.B. in Sociology, cum laude from Princeton University, her J.D. from Columbia Law School, and her coaching certificate and M.S. in Leadership and Organizational Development from the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas. She takes great joy in her work and finds her greatest satisfaction when she is helping her ombuds visitors and clients learn how to communicate better, resolve their differences, and find the highest expression of their best selves.

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Outsourced Ombuds
anna-ombuds@mwi.org

Anna Cybulko is an outsourced organizational ombuds with MWI. She was appointed to serve as an ombuds at the University of Warsaw in 2011. She holds two M.A. diplomas: in law, and in psychology, as well as PhD in social studies. Her area of expertise encompasses conflict management and alternative dispute resolution, interpersonal communication, discrimination, bullying and harassment. As an ombuds she supports the academic community in conflict management, intervenes when there is a breach of law or ethics, helps dealing with discrimination and harassment cases. Besides her work as an ombudsman, she is a mediator, moderator, academic teacher and social skills coach. She mediates and facilitates agreements in civil, family, commercial, and labor disputes. She also conducts mediations in social and organizational disputes. Her expertise includes facilitating discussions and debates and dealing with multiparty community conflicts. In this area she cooperates with local governments, including that of the City of Warsaw. Since 2006 she collaborates on permanent basis with Center for Disputes and Conflicts Resolution at the Faculty of Law and Administration, of the University of Warsaw (Centrum Rozwiązywania Sporów i Konfliktow przy Wydziale Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego). She is a member and former vice-president of the Family Mediators’ Association (Stowarzyszenie Mediatorów Rodzinnych – SMR), a board member of European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) and EU expert for gender equality. Anna is fluent in Polish and English and is based in Warsaw.

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Outsourced Ombuds

derrick-ombuds@mwi.org

Derrick Johnson is a member of MWI’s Outsourced Ombuds Panel and has served as an ombuds at Florida State College at Jacksonville since 2018. Derrick has worked in the areas of education as a manager of student services and counseling in substance abuse, juvenile justice, and vocational rehabilitation, for over 15 years. Derrick is an experienced service professional in the educational field who has partnered with students, parents, faculty, staff and administration to offer superior quality services in assisting stakeholders with navigating their academic, and social conflicts. After spending over a decade working in education and counseling, Derrick’s professional background informs his work as an ombuds, namely, to assist visitors and help clients develop policies and processes that continue to build equality among program stakeholders. Derrick is completing a Doctoral degree (Ed. D.) in educational innovation at the University of South Florida. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Georgia Southwestern State University and a master’s degree in education counseling from Albany State University in Georgia.

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Outsourced Ombuds
ellen-ombuds@mwi.org

Ellen Reardon is a skilled Organizational Ombuds, consultant, facilitator and workshop presenter in the areas of Communication skills, Conflict resolution, Mentoring in the Workplace and Developing resilience in the Workplace. She earned her Masters in Psychiatric Nursing from Case Western Reserve University. Ellen is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA) and is Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP). Her career as an Ombuds began in 2007. She has served as an Organizational Ombuds at Salk Research Institute where she provided services to all employees; including Faculty, Post Docs, graduate students, staff and administrators. Prior to this she was employed as Ombuds/mediator at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego from 2009-2013. She has over 25 years experience in healthcare as a manager and clinician, as well as over 10 years of teaching experience as Adjunct Professor at National University and UCSD Extension Program.

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Chuck Doran

Ombuds and Mediator | Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP)

617-895-4026 | chuck-ombuds@mwi.org

Chuck Doran 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 outsourced organizational ombuds for companies, universities, and other organizations since 1997. A mediator since 1992, he is a member of the CPR Dispute Resolution Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), MWI, the Harvard Mediation Program, and the United States Postal Service REDRESS I and REDRESS II Mediation Panels. In addition to his mediation 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. Chuck has served as a teaching assistant on multiple occasions with Professor Roger Fisher at Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers Negotiation Workshop. 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.

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Outsourced Ombuds
cris-ombuds@mwi.org

LaCrisia “Cris” Gilbert, MDR, is a member of MWI’s ombuds panel and has served as both an organizational and advocate ombuds. Her ombuds career started in 2012 as an advocate ombuds in the State of Texas where she advocated for residents in long-term care and assisted living facilities, working closely with regulatory and individual facilities and their administrations. Utilizing over 30 years in the ADR field as a mediator, facilitator (specializing in Faith-based organizations), professor and trainer, Cris was instrumental in resolving conflicts at all levels from family, civil court cases to facility issues. Cris has served as an organizational ombudsman with a university, assisting faculty, staff, and students as well as training compliance investigators in mediation, conflict resolution, and DEI initiatives for the organization. She has also worked as a facilitator, assisting HR and Compliance with informal resolutions. She serves in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) on two campus initiatives (the President’s DEI Council and Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion Council).

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Outsourced Ombuds
michael-ombuds@mwi.org

Michael Stephens is an experienced ombuds, mediator and coach with the goal of helping foster good working relations and a more positive culture in the organizations he serves. Michael is a member of the International Ombudsman Association, and has significant experience as an ombuds in both both corporate and academic settings. Michael has a certification in Mediation from the Mediation Training Institute. Michael worked for many years as an Ombuds, as well as the manager of other Ombuds, at Merck, a multi-national pharmaceutical company. Prior to that he had many years of experience in Human Resources roles at Merck and several other companies. After retiring from Merck, he has served as ombuds for Amherst College as well as Smith College. Michael is also an experienced facilitator and workshop leader, specializing in communications skills, conflict resolution and change management. He has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Colorado and a Masters in Business Administration from New York University.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Birthe C. Reimers, Ph.D., is the 2023 recipient of the Association for Conflict Resolution’s William J. Kreidler Award for Distinguished Service to Expanding Knowledge in the Field of Conflict Resolution. Birthe is an ombuds, mediator, coach, and published conflict scholar-practitioner with 17 years of experience in the field. Her most recent article in the JIOA was published in 2024.

Birthe earned her Ph.D. in International Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University in 2015 and has been an Ombuds as well as a member of the International Ombuds Association since 2016. Since January 2018, she has been directing the Office of the Ombudsperson at Georgia State University, the largest public university in Georgia. In this role, Birthe serves as a confidential thought partner, conflict coach, and facilitator of challenging conversations for administrators, faculty, staff, students, their family members, and alumni across seven campuses. To support positive transformations at the university she provides upward feedback to university leadership about systemic challenges as well as trends in the campus climate and organizational culture.

Birthe also develops and facilitates conflict management-related workshops to empower and equip participants with key analytical and applied tools to engage in conflict constructively. Much of her conflict management work has intersected with DEIB efforts, drawing on her own experiences as a German national living in the United States and her formal education in African American Studies and International Conflict Management.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Jen G. Sims has provided conflict management and collaboration services as an external consultant and professional neutral to diverse organizations in different industries for more than 20 years. She has been a mediator both in Hawaii and Texas since 2005.  She also has facilitated large complex public policy issues. Previously she was the Staff Ombuds Office for the University of Texas, where she founded this office and directed it for more than six years. She is an ombuds because she believes people want to do good work and be respected. Though conflicts are inevitable, they also offer opportunities for positive change, learning, and professional development. Before becoming an ombuds, she served in various administrative, teaching, and research roles for the Hawaii State Judiciary and the University of Hawaii. Her practice emphasizes informal methods to address situations that aren’t working well for visitors. Jen applies observation skills, deep listening, inquiry, sense-making, and assessment of patterns to uncover possible responses a visitor might consider. She tries to encourage taking multiple perspectives for a better understanding of the situation a visitor is dealing with.

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Outsourced Ombuds
jacqueline-ombuds@mwi.org

Jacqueline Villafañe, Psy.D. is an outsourced ombuds with MWI and has over twenty years of experience in the areas of executive coaching, leadership, talent and organization development, conflict resolution, diversity, equity and inclusion, facilitation, and training. She has worked with clients in corporate, non-profit, and government sectors helping individuals, teams, and organizational systems identify learning opportunities to perform at a higher level. She has created national leadership development programs, supervised, and directed staff and programs, and managed large-scale budgets, programs, and initiatives. Serving as a link between leaders and stakeholders; managing change, conflict, and talent, interpreting, and administering responsibilities and tasks, assisting in the resolution of strategic-related challenges, Jacqueline has advised leaders on organizational matters, designed, analyzed, modified, and implemented programs to address program gaps, while ensuring continuous improvement and learning opportunities are generated. In addition to working with executives, managers, and teams in various hierarchies and across international borders, she has helped develop and implement sustainable/flexible problem-resolution programs to increase performance and organization portfolios. In addition to being a Certified Action Learning Coach and trained mediator, Jacqueline has held various board director positions internationally, has been an adjunct professor for The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in the Doctoral International Psychology and Business Psychology degree programs, and faculty for the George Washington University Center of Excellence. She has been published in professional journals and consults frequently in the fields of conflict resolution, diversity in the workplace, leadership development, executive and peer coaching, change management, and action learning.
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Outsourced Ombuds
willem-ombuds@mwi.org

Willem Kweens is an experienced ombuds, mediator and coach with the goal of helping foster good working relations, facilitating a more positive culture and being the early warning for the organizations he serves.

Willem is an emeritus member of the International Ombuds Association of which he is a member since 2009 and where he also served a 4-year elected term to the International Ombuds Association (IOA) Board of Directors and the Executive and Finance Committee (2018–2022). When he completed the initial organizational ombuds training he obtained the Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP®) designation in 2011. Willem has almost 13-years’ experience as a corporate ombuds in Europe (East, Central and West Europe).

Before becoming an Ombuds he worked more than 25 years in Finance, Human Resources and as a Pension Fund Director at Mars Incorporated based in The Netherlands.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Kerry Egdorf became an organizational ombuds in 2007, working at Marquette University, then as an independent contractor at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Her academic training includes a doctorate in organizational communication from Ohio University and a graduate certificate in dispute resolution from Marquette. As a faculty member for 24 years, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in communication, conflict resolution, and mediation at Creighton University, the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and at Marquette. Kerry has also provided communication and conflict training and consulting to a number of Milwaukee-area nonprofits. Before receiving her doctorate, she was a property human resource manager and a corporate HRIS manager with Marriott Hotels and Resorts. Kerry’s contributions to the ombuds profession include making presentations, conducting training and serving on committees and in leadership roles in the International Ombudsman Association, the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds, and the Summer Meeting of Academic Ombuds. Kerry is a member of the International Ombuds Association and completed the IOA foundations training. She served seven years in both elected and appointed roles on the IOA Board of Directors.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Tera Bisbee is an experienced Ombuds, mediator, facilitator, and trainer. She was the organizational Ombuds for seven years at Cal State University San Bernardino, where she provided services to students, faculty, staff, administrators, or anyone with a university-related concern. She has provided mediation, conflict interventions, and leadership development for higher education, corporations, and non-profit organizations. She also has a background in leadership coaching, specializing in coaching abrasive leaders to improve their interpersonal relationships and emotional intelligence skills. Tools she has employed to help individuals and organizations grow and increase their capabilities include 360 surveys based on leadership competencies and Leadership Effectiveness Training. She enjoys partnering with clients to create solutions, increase their competencies, and transform high-conflict or dysfunctional situations into healthy, effective, and productive ones. She has two Masters degrees, employee and labor relations experience, and has taught management and HR courses for the University of Redlands. She also likes writing and maintaining a sense of humor.

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Outsourced Ombuds
allison-ombuds@mwi.org

Allison Monyei Whaley is a skilled ombuds, mediator, and dispute resolution trainer. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Mercer University School of Law. Allison is a member of the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and completed IOA’s Foundations of Organizational Ombudsman Practice Course. She is also a Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner (CO-OP) and serves on IOA’s CO-OP Board of Directors. Allison has served as an Organizational Ombuds at Clemson University and at Montgomery College, where she provides services to all employees, including faculty, staff and administrators. Prior to ombudsing in higher education, Allison was an external-facing ombuds for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she provided confidential ombuds services to businesses and corporations that were collaborating with the government as regulated entities. Before entering the ombuds profession, she worked as a nonprofit attorney, advocating on behalf of our nation’s veterans and their families. Several times in her career, Allison has been recognized as a leader having been selected for the President’s Leadership Institute at Clemson University, the FDA’s Leading for Results Leadership Development Program, and the FDA’s Leading at All Levels Aspiring Leaders Program. She is co-chair of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Ombuds Committee and a member of and the administrator for the Black Ombuds Network.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Leslie Nelson-Kellogg is an outsourced ombuds with MWI and brings over fifteen years of experience as a mediator, ombuds, and executive coach, specializing in startup technology companies, universities, and venture firms. Leslie provides dispute-resolution services to risk-sensitive technology companies. She guides decision-makers on the transformative power of outsourced ombuds offices as low-cost/high-return investments, fostering magnetic work cultures and creating a competitive advantage. Most recently, Microsoft recruited her to help build a Center of Excellence for resolving highly escalated employee concerns involving harassment and discrimination for over 170,000 employees worldwide. Additionally, Leslie is an active community, housing insecurity (EERP), and court system mediator. She serves as a mediation coach for the University of Washington and sits on the boards of the King County Dispute Resolution Center and the University of Washington Human Resources Certificate Program. Leslie holds a Master’s in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine Law School’s Straus Institute, Society for Human Resources PHR certification, and is an IOA CO-OP certified Ombuds.

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Outsourced Ombuds
caitlan-ombuds@mwi.org

Caitlan Hendrickson is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) with over eighteen years of experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and over a decade of experience leading ADR offices in large multicultural organizations. With extensive experience working in a wide variety of settings – including in higher education, healthcare, court, government, and non-profit organizations – she enjoys tailoring her extensive experience and training in conflict engagement practices and human relations to the unique needs of the individuals, groups, and organizations she serves, whether they are small non-profits or large, complex institutions. Caitlan has been a member of the International Ombuds Association since 2011 and brings a background in Ombuds work that is truly multidisciplinary, bridging countless academic disciplines, healthcare, research and innovation, emergency response, and social service. She entered the Ombuds profession as a mediator and restorative justice practitioner with extensive experience working with disadvantaged and marginalized communities in the social service sector, where she specialized in multicultural inclusion and trauma-informed work. Caitlan sees conflict and other challenges as potent opportunities for learning, growth, and transformation on individual, group, and organizational/systemic levels, and enjoys the process of facilitating evolution on each level. She holds a M.Ed. in Human Relations and graduate certificate in Educational Technology – Adult Learning & Training, and is currently completing a doctorate in leadership. As a fluent Spanish speaker, she provides Ombuds services in both English and Spanish.

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Outsourced Ombuds

Timothy Hedeen is an ombuds and mediator with MWI and a Professor of Conflict Management in the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development at Kennesaw State University. He provides mediation and facilitation services; delivers training around constructive conflict engagement, decision-making, conflict coaching, and communication; conducts research and evaluation on ombuds offices, dispute resolution systems in courts and educational contexts, and justice policy. He serves on the editorial board of Conflict Resolution Quarterly and as a senior consultant to the National Center on Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE). He served seven years as an appointed member of the Commission on Dispute Resolution of the Georgia Supreme Court, as well as six years on the Section Council of the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution. He’s a former editorial board member of Family Court Review, and a past chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association for Community Mediation, where he served two three-year terms. Dr. Hedeen is an active member of the International Ombudsman Association, the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, the Association for Conflict Resolution, the National Association for Community Mediation, and the American Association of University Professors. He serves as president of the KSU chapter of AAUP, and served as KSU’s University Ombuds for five years. At KSU he serves as faculty in the Master of Science in Conflict Management program and the International Conflict Management doctoral program. He was honored with KSU’s 2010 Distinguished Professional Service Award in recognition of his service to the the campus, the broader community, and the field of dispute resolution.

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Outsourced Ombuds
rita-ombuds@mwi.org

Rita Callahan is an ombuds with MWI. She has over 20 years’ experience as an organizational ombuds and conflict management consultant offering conflict resolution and collaboration services as a neutral 3rd party in diverse organizations in different industries. Over 5 years’ experience as an organizational ombuds in 3 academic institutions and 2 federal agencies. Adheres to the standards of practice of the International Ombudsman Association and designated as Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP®) since 2015. In addition, over 7 years providing ombuds services (without the “Ombuds” title) including the full range of conflict resolution services, climate assessments, process design, team development, collaborative meetings, and designing organizational strategies to address systemic organizational issues in a complex, multicultural, unionized company of 15,000 employees. Provides impartial, informal, independent and confidential conflict management services to constituencies including staff, faculty, students, trainees, and federal and industry employees. Thirteen years’ experience providing conflict management and collaboration services as an external consultant and professional neutral to diverse organizations in different industries. Extensive practical experience addressing and preventing potential formal complaints and escalating conflicts, and delivering a range of conflict management and collaboration services at all organizational levels while developing trusted relationships with senior leaders in varied organizations and industries to provide feedback, make recommendations, and open communication to address systemic problems and issues.

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