12, June 2024 

As you may have heard, Lindsay Jennings - our fabulous Managing Director and Vice President of Business Development at SBI Association Management – has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Orcas Island Community Foundation. This is a very exciting opportunity for Lindsay, as she will have a direct impact in the community she calls home. We find ourselves both celebrating for her and feeling very sad for IOA.  

Lindsay has been integral to the growth of IOA since 2018 and was on the transition team right from the start. She quickly learned all things IOA, devoted 50% of her time to IOA and beautifully managed her team at SBI to support us. She also helped shepherd two executive directors, which is no small task. We have all come to rely on her calm and wise demeanor, sage counsel, and authenticity. So, this will be hard.  

IOA was handed a big win today!  Revisions to Title IX were released Friday, 19 April and IOA is thrilled to see the US Department of Education's inclusion of Organizational Ombuds as employees who may be designated as confidential employees for Title IX purposes.  

Since 2012, IOA has actively commented on proposed regulations and other guidance that addresses both Title IX and Clery Act. In 2022, we upped our game. In May 2022, we participated in an Executive Order (EO) 12866 Meeting on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities to begin planning seeds.  In the Fall of 2022, we filed comments on the formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposal to changes in Title IX. Post filing, we spent several months lobbying US Members of Congress involved in education and safety committees. This resulted in a bipartisan letter that was sent to the Department of Education, supporting our position that Organizational Ombuds may be designated as confidential employees.  

Some Sections from the Commentary: