The Executive Committee of the Coalition of Federal Ombudsman is pleased to invite you to the 2016 Annual Conference! This event and all sessions are centered on the following themes: support, connect, learn, and grow. As a community of practice, federal ombuds must support each other, remain connected, and provide cross-agency assistance so that we continue to sharpen our practice and grow as a profession.
When: Friday, October 7, 2016, 8:00 a.m. (registration begins at 7:30 a.m.)
Where: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, James Madison Building, Main Auditorium, Concourse Level, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia (Near King Street Metro). Click HERE for directions and parking information.
Registration: Please register by choosing quantity and clicking "Continue" above.
AGENDA
7:30am Check-In
8:00am Welcoming Remarks by Scott Deyo, Ombudsman Consultant and COFO Chair
8:15am Legal Issues and Updates with Dawn Bedlivy, Department of Defense
8:45am Resilience Skills for Ombuds with Beth Payne of the Foreign Service Institute
Tools to bring resilience to the people with whom we work as ombuds and ourselves. This interactive session includes techniques in how to identify low resilience and ways to assist ourselves and others in "bouncing back."
9:30am Break and Networking
9:40am Identifying and Reporting Systemic Issues with Wendy Kamenshine, Ombudsman, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
This module shares feedback processes that all ombuds may use.
10:30am Keynote Address: Thomas Zgambo, Ombudsman, World Bank Group
11:30am Lunch
12:30pm Speed Networking with Riley Barrar, Associate Ombudsman, Department of State
Fast paced structured mentoring activities to ask experienced internal and external ombuds all your burning questions!
1:15pm Multidisciplinary Collaboration on Intra-Agency Mental Health Concerns with Dr. Karen Eberwein, NGA
2:00pm Break and Networking
2:15pm Accepting the Challenge: Applying Fairness Principles
Round table facilitated dialogue on how to integrate fairness principles and practices in the federal ombuds sphere. This module promotes Howard Gadlin's 2015 keynote address challenge for federal ombuds to effectively represent principles of fairness and how to educate our organizations about those principles. This interactive seminar will be guided by the ACCUO fairness guide.
3:30pm Federal Ombudsman Program and Practice Standards, led by the COFO Executive Committee
We will discuss key issues, concerns, and recommendations for establishing core program and practice standards in the Federal space.
4:00pm The Future of COFO
Updates and Discussion with the COFO Executive Committee
4:30pm Wrap-up and Adjourn
