Jenn Mahony is the President of the International Ombuds Association. She is the current Ombuds Office Director for Boston Children's Hospital, where she established the office in October 2021. Prior to that, Jenn was part of the Ombuds Team as an Associate Ombudsman at the National Institutes of Health from January 2020 to September 2021. Prior to that, she was the Director of Workplace Services (including Ombuds Services) at FairWay Resolution in New Zealand, where she established a significant outsourced ombuds program for many government sector clients. A certified mediator since 2000, Jenn has worked in the employment law and organizational development space since 2001.

Jenn has more than 20 years of experience in board governance in both the US and in New Zealand. She has a strong marketing and consulting background, and has worked in most ombuds sectors (government, corporate, international, non-profit) (outsourced ombuds as well as ombuds within an organization) (solo practitioner, member of a team, director of a team) (US and non-US).

Ellen Miller is the Executive Director of the International Ombuds Association. An advocate for organizational ombuds, Ellen speaks, writes, and educates policymakers on issues impacting the field. She is a collaborative, creative leader with more than 25 years of experience, including organizational management, program development, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning/positioning.

A trained mediator and facilitator, Ellen has a proven ability to develop and maintain strong, effective relationships to create sustainable solutions. Ellen is particularly recognized for her skills in assessing, prioritizing, and aligning organizational big-picture needs and working collaboratively to develop effective solutions.

Previously, Ellen served as Executive Director of the California Lawyers Foundation, and Associate Executive Director (Initiatives and External Relations) of the California Lawyers Association where she provided strategic direction and organizational development for a myriad of new programs and initiatives including DEI, access to justice, health and wellness, public education, and bar relations, and several foundational projects. Prior to joining CLF/CLA, she served as the Executive Director/CEO of the San Diego County Bar Association and as Section Director of the Section of Dispute Resolution at the American Bar Association.

An active volunteer herself, she is a past president of the National Association of Bar Executives and a member of the American Society of Association Executives. In her spare time, she loves to cook, travel, and play golf with her husband, and visit her daughter at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia, PA. She is based in the US in the Pacific Time Zone (San Diego, California), although she was born and raised in Toronto, Canada.

Donna Douglass Williams is Senior Director of the Ombuds Program at Pinterest, recently launched as one of the first Ombuds programs in the tech sector. Donna has over twenty-five years experience as an attorney, mediator, facilitator, trainer, consultant and organizational ombudsperson. Donna previously held the position of Ombudsperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland serving WHO and UNAIDS staff in global duty stations, led the Ombuds team at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and served as Ombuds at Georgia State University and UConn Health. In addition to her work at Pinterest, Donna is also a consultant ombudsperson for the United Nations Funds and Programmes, responsible for team facilitation and training global staff in several UN agencies, including UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women, and UNFPA. Donna is a graduate of Purdue University, and the King Hall School of Law at University of California, Davis.

Dr. Hector Escalante Meza is the University of California, Merced, Director of the Ombuds Office. Not that long ago, he was the inaugural ombuds for the University of the Pacific. He also serves as an ombuds consultant for non-profit companies. He comes from both a management and academic background. Escalante has developed new ombuds offices in both the academic and nonprofit sectors. Escalante holds a Doctor of Education and a Master of Fine Arts in creative non-fiction writing. He served as a college professor for many years before transitioning into academic administration. Escalante is a trained mediator, DISC profile facilitator, Crucial Conversations Trainer, 3 Practice Circle facilitator, and a conflict resolution professional. Escalante currently teaches a conflict and negotiation course at the University of the Pacific. As an Organizational Ombuds, he works with individuals and groups in an organization to explore and assist them in determining options to help resolve complex work-place conflicts.

Mijanoux Beauchamp is a values-driven leader and certified master and leadership coach with over 30 years of experience strengthening individual and organizational resilience across the public and private sectors. Since 2019, she has served as FINTRAC’s Organizational Ombudsperson, providing a safe, confidential, independent, impartial, and informal space for all employees—including senior executives—to raise concerns without fear of reprisal or stigma. By integrating coaching-based empowerment techniques into her ombuds practice, Mijanoux supports individual growth, leadership development, and cultural transformation. She is deeply committed to psychological safety, trust-building, open dialogue, mental health, and systemic fairness, and is a strong advocate for inclusive, respectful workplaces where everyone is valued and treated with dignity. Mijanoux is an active member of the Government of Canada’s Organizational Ombuds Council and Steering Committee, and the International Ombuds Association.

Lunch Keynote: Why Is It So Hard to Advocate for Our Roles? Imposter Syndrome and Ombuds

Since 1982 internationally-recognized expert on impostor syndrome and co-founder of Impostor Syndrome Institute, Dr. Valerie Young has delivered her Rethinking Impostor Syndrome™ program to hundreds of major corporations and universities around the world.

Therese M. Leone began serving as Chief Laboratory Counsel for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in July 2021. Immediately prior to joining UCB, she was Vice President and General Counsel at Mills College in Oakland, California where she was a member of the College's executive leadership team. In her role she oversaw all legal matters and also was counsel to the Mills Board of Trustees. Therese also worked as University Counsel for the Regents of the University of California for almost six years. In that role she provided labor and employment advice/counseling regarding faculty, staff and student employees to leadership at the 10 campuses and 5 medical centers in the UC system. Therese also served as Chief Campus Counsel for UC Merced. Before joining the University of California, Therese worked as a labor and employment attorney for Littler Mendelson, P.C. and Hanson Bridgett.

Lisa Abbott is the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, a comprehensive, pediatric teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Ms. Abbott is a transformational leader responsible for all facets of human capital strategy and HR operations for the enterprise and is charged with creating a world-class human resources organization.

Prior to taking this role in 2023, Ms. Abbott was the Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Community Affairs at Lifespan Corporation, an academic health system affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the largest employer in the state of Rhode Island. With her transformative leadership approach, she created synergy across the system by centralizing service delivery, focusing on superior customer service and keeping the patient at the center of the change agenda.
Ms. Abbott holds a Masters of Business Administration from Binghamton University with a concentration in International Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Cortland State University. She is SPHR credentialed and is a graduate of the Michigan Business School Executive Human Resources Program.

Nicholas Diehl is the Head of Ombuds & Mediation Services for the Latin American Development Bank. Previously he served as an Ombuds for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also has held Ombuds positions with the Asia Development Bank, the American Red Cross, National Institutes of Health, and Princeton University. He is a Past President of the IOA Board of Directors. Diehl graduated from the University of Vermont and earned Master's degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Conflict Analysis and Resolution) and American University (Organizational Development). 

Melissa Brodrick serves as Ombuds and Director for the Harvard Ombuds Office. In this role, she serves as an impartial and informal dispute resolution practitioner who provides confidential and informal assistance to Harvard faculty, staff, students and trainees and to appointees at the affiliated institutions. Her services include helping visitors to clarify their concerns, identify their goals and consider all of their options in managing or resolving their disputes. Melissa provides coaching in written and verbal communications, informal mediation, meeting facilitation, shuttle diplomacy and information about policies/procedures and resources. She also offers educational programs upon request.

Gretchen Scheidler has a robust background in health and well-being, with significant experience in leadership roles at McKinsey & Company from July 2017 to April 2022, where Gretchen served as the Global Well-being and Mental Health Lead, Firm Ombud, and Director of Professional Development. In these positions, Gretchen managed global well-being initiatives for over 40,000 colleagues, provided confidential counsel to staff, and led professional development teams across North America. Prior to that she was a hospice nurse. She graduated from Johns Hopkins University and earned an MBA at Duke University.

Using Data from the Practice Survey and Your Survey to Support Your Advocacy

Mary P. Rowe, PhD is an Adjunct Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She served for almost 42 years as an organizational ombuds reporting directly to five presidents of MIT. Her articles and papers are freely accessible at https://mitmgmtfaculty.mit.edu/mrowe/research/ and https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/1201.