ROUNDTABLE BREAKFAST: The Organizational Ombuds – Guidance for the Ombuds Curious (and Mediators) (Thursday, June 04, 2026)

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT

ACR-GNY & CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College present:

The Organizational Ombuds – Guidance for the Ombuds Curious (and Mediators)

An organizational ombuds serves as an independent, impartial, informal, and confidential resource for members of an organization to help them surface and resolve concerns, while providing anonymous upward feedback to leadership. Ombuds use a variety of skills, including confidential listening, interest exploration, brainstorming, and other skills familiar to mediators.

Despite drawing on similar toolkits, how are the roles of the ombuds and the mediator both different and complementary? Join Chuck Doran, mediator and organizational ombuds, to discuss the ombuds function and what a mediator might want to know about exploring this unique role.

Registrants are encourages to read the following articles in advance of the session:

"Mediator as Ombuds" by Chuck Doran, MWI

"How to Amplify the Effectiveness of HR and Compliance with an Organizational Ombuds" by Chuck Doran, Forbes

"What an Ombuds Charter Is and Why It Matters" by Chuck Howard and Chuck Doren, Journal of the International Ombuds Association

Chuck Doran

Chuck Doran is an experienced mediator and organizational ombuds, specializing in resolving employment, franchise, and other commercial disputes. A mediator since 1992, he is a member of the CPR Dispute Resolution Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Chuck has provided mediation and other ADR services to a variety of clients, including AT&T, Bose, BMW of North America, Coca-Cola, CVS Health, General Motors, Oxfam America, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD), and the USPS REDRESS I and REDRESS II Mediation Panels. Chuck is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) and a member of the International Ombuds Association who completed ombuds training with the IOA in 1995. Chuck has served as an outsourced organizational ombuds for companies, universities, and other organizations since 1997 and received a President's Award from the IOA in 2024. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. In 1994, Chuck founded MWI, a nationally recognized dispute resolution service and training organization based in Boston, MA, that provides individual and corporate clients with mediation services, outsourced organizational ombuds services, negotiation consulting and training, and mediation training. Chuck has served as a teaching assistant on multiple occasions with Professor Roger Fisher at Harvard Law School's Program of Instruction for Lawyers Negotiation Workshop. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation and, in 1997 and 1999, chaired two regional ADR Conferences. Chuck served on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and as Chair of the Qualifications Subcommittee. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Advisory Group and is a past president of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Chapter. Chuck is also a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and a past president of IAM's Board of Governors.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The Roundtable Breakfasts are online meetings via Zoom. The link will change each month and will be distributed to all registrants the day before and the morning of the event. All listed times for ACR-GNY events are for Eastern Time.

8:00 am – 8:30 am | Join call to network with attendees

8:30 am – 10:00 am | Presentation and discussion

About the Roundtable Breakfasts

The Roundtable Breakfasts are organized by ACR-GNY and the CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College. They take place the first Thursday of the month and are ongoing since 2001.

Views expressed in connection with any Roundtable event publicity or at sessions are those of the speakers and participants and not of the CUNY DRC or ACR-GNY.

This program is supported by ACR-GNY's 365 Sponsor:

ACR-GNY 25th Annual Conference - Ex/change: Established Practice & Emerging Ideas (Tuesday, June 09, 2026)

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 04:00:00 GMT

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