Please watch in early 2023 for information about the date and location of the 2023 COFO Annual Conference.

COFO 2022 Annual Conference

The 2022 Coalition of Federal Ombudsman Annual Conference was held virtually from 9 AM – 5 PM Eastern time on Friday, October 14th, 2022.

The world is evolving every day. Whether it’s regarding identity, leadership, connection, partnership, or a host of other issues, we have better understanding today than we did yesterday. And we surely will have better understanding of all of them tomorrow than we do today.

So as federal ombuds, if we want to practice to our highest potential, we must also evolve every day alongside our communities and the world. The 2022 COFO Annual Conference will focus on ombuds practice through the constant evolution of that modern world.

As always, the conference is free and open to all. The agenda is primarily aimed at federal ombuds practitioners of all models, but includes information and sessions which may be of interest to ombuds and ADR practitioners anywhere, as well as those interested in other fields. The final agenda will be confirmed and publicized shortly, but confirmed sessions include:

  • Brian Bloch, Mary Chavez Rudolph, William Hall, Vik Kapoor, & Tahirih Varner, Department of the Interior Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution/Ombuds team, and Paula Hoag, EPA Asbestos & Small Business Ombudsman: “Developing Deeper Organizational Partnerships and Support”
  • Linda Brothers, Senior Associate Ombudsman at NIH, Jenn Mahony, Ombuds Office Director at Boston Children’s Hospital, & Katie Manderson, ADR Director at Office of Veterans Affairs: “Dancing to the Edge of Neutrality”
  • Laura Crawshaw, Executive Insight Development Group: “Empowering Ombuds to Help Solve the Problem of Abrasive Leadership”
  • Lucas Johansen, NOAA: “LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency – Pronouns & Gendered Language”
  • David Schwartz, Ombuds at UNLV: “Many Open Doors: Serving Multiple Populations as an Ombuds”

The CO-OP Recertification Committee has preapproved the conference for a total of 4.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH). David Schwartz’s presentation accounts for 0.5 PDH, with the other four presentations accounting for 1.0 PDH each.

We will also schedule a post-conference happy hour in DC for those in the area who wish to connect socially after the conference is over. That will be announced shortly as well.

Thank you and we hope you will join us!