2022 Additional Sessions & Events

• Gather.town Familiarization
  
• What Would You Do? A Case Study Exploration (Option One) (Gather.town)
• Belonging Together: The Experience
• Belonging Together: The After Party (Gather.town)
  
• Colleague Catch-up
• The Practice Edge: Who Owns the Story?
• A Session with the IOA Board (Option One)
• Learning Circle (Option One) (Gather.town)
• What Would You Do? A Case Study Exploration (Option Two)  (Gather.town)
• Learning Circle (Option Two) (Gather.town)
• A Session with the IOA Board (Option Two)
• Learning Circle (Option Three) (Gather.town)

Gather.town Familiarization

Summary: 

Coming Soon

What Would You Do? A Case Study Exploration (Option One)  (Gather.town)

Summary: 

In this session, participants will explore a real case in small groups led by a facilitator. The purpose is to learn from each other while aligning our Ombuds practice with IOA’s newly adopted Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

Belonging Together: The Experience

Summary: 

Please join us to celebrate IOA 2022! Our virtual "welcome reception" this year will include honoring IOA award winners, scholarship winners, our annual Experience of Display, creating a signature drink, and time to socialize with colleagues and friends.

Belonging Together: The After Party (Gather.town)

Summary: 

There's the party and then there's the after-party! Join in the fun for trivia, a collective art project, informal chats, and other creative pursuits and ways to connect with your colleagues.

Colleague Catch-up

Summary: 

Use this time to catch-up with colleagues either in gather.town or by setting up a virtual meeting in Pathable (look under the Make Connections tab for both options!)

The Practice Edge: Who Owns the Story?

Summary: 

This presentation will explore questions raised by common ombuds approaches to group work through the lens of storytelling and individual ombuds experiences. Practiced Ombuds will share reflections on lessons learned from casework involving assistance to multiple visitors/stakeholders. The session will challenge the IOA community to think critically about the role they are playing in their visitors' stories.

Presented by:

Jeff Anderson 
Associate Ombudsman, U.S. Department of Energy

Jeff Anderson is an Associate Ombudsman with the Department of Energy (DOE) committed to providing confidential, neutral, and impartial assistance to employees supervisors, managers, and leaders.  Prior to joining DOE, Jeff served as an Ombuds for the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), providing coaching and dispute resolution services to staff, students faculty, and researchers across the both UCSF campus and health care facilities. Prior to joining UCSF, Jeff served as an Ombudsman at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. supporting 75,000 employees, foreign service officers, and locally-employed staff stationed at 201 embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions across the globe.  Jeff has also served as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Specialist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Attorney ADR Consultant with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; mediator with California Superior Court, Riverside County; and Labor Relations at the Walt Disney Corporation. He has degrees in psychology, dispute resolution, and law.

Laurel Gordon
Deputy Ombuds, United States Marshals Service (USMS) 

Laurel Gordon has been serving as Deputy Ombuds at the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Office of the Ombuds since the Office’s inception in May 2016, where she provides organizational ombudsman services to agency employees across the country. Prior to her work as an Ombuds, Laurel served in various roles at the USMS, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), briefly in USAID-Afghanistan, and the Office of Personnel Management, while also volunteering as a crisis hotline listener at a suicide hotline and as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for the District of Columbia. Laurel entered the federal government as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2009. She has an MS in Psychological Science from the University of Maryland, an MA in Comparative Religion from the University of Washington, and a BA from Columbia University. Laurel is a Federal Internal Coach, a certified CINERGY conflict coach, and a mediator with the Shared Neutrals program.  She lives in Seattle with her two young children.

Lisa Levine
Ombuds, Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)

Lisa Levine has served as the founding Ombuds for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) since 2017. Previously, Lisa managed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Mediation Program in the Civil Rights Division of DOJ facilitating the resolution of thousands of ADA disputes. Lisa is credentialed as an International Ombudsman Association (IOA) Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner ®, a graduate of the Federal Internal Coach Training Program, and trained in Conflict Management Coaching. She was a long-time mediator with DC Superior Court and the Federal Shared Neutrals Program. Lisa has completed DOJ’s Leadership Excellence and Achievement Program, was a Co-Coach and Fellow with the Excellence in Government Leadership Program, and has served in a variety of roles with the Coalition of Federal Ombudsman (COFO), including on the Executive Committee as Co-Secretary. She has served as a civil rights investigator in employment, disability, and housing discrimination matters. Prior to joining Federal service, Lisa directed a non-profit organization working with immigrant farmworkers. Lisa earned her B.A. with honors in Political Science and Spanish from Duke University.

Chris Vermillion
Associate Ombudsman, Department of Energy

Chris Vermillion has served as an Associate Ombudsman at the Department of Energy since November of 2021. Prior to that, Chris served as an Ombudsman Specialist with the Transportation Security Administration, and previously served as an Assistant Ombudsperson and then Co-Director of the Ombuds Office at Georgia State University. Other experience includes working as Training Director at the Dispute Resolution Center of King County, teaching at John Jay College, and facilitating dialogue for a number of organizations including Seeds of Peace and the Dialogue Project. He also worked extensively in New York City public schools, including serving three years as the peer mediation coordinator at the Bronx High School for Visual Arts. Chris has a master’s degree in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University, a Juris Doctorate from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Brigham Young University. He is an experienced coach, trainer, and facilitator, and has mediated for various courts, community mediation centers, and government agencies. He currently lives in Virginia with his spouse and three children.

Lexi Wolfe
Associate Ombudsman, Department of Energy

A Session with the IOA Board (Option One)

Summary: 

Coming Soon

Learning Circle (Option One) (Gather.town)

Summary: 

Coming Soon

What Would You Do? A Case Study Exploration (Option Two)  (Gather.town)

Summary: 

In this session, participants will explore a real case in small groups led by a facilitator. The purpose is to learn from each other while aligning our Ombuds practice with IOA’s newly adopted Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

Learning Circle (Option Two) (Gather.town)

Summary: 

Coming Soon

A Session with the Board (Option Two)

Summary: 

Coming Soon

Learning Circle (Option Three) (Gather.town)

Summary: 

Coming Soon