Emerging Role of the Corporate, Organizational & Transnational* Ombuds

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This ACR-GNY event is co-sponsored by the CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

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Please join our experts for a topical examination of critical issues facing the ombuds in a struggling national and world economy, with job insecurity, employee unrest and changing corporate and organizational philosophies.

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MARSHA L. WAGNER
Columbia University Ombuds Officer

Ms. Wagner has been Columbia University ombuds officer since 1991, when the Ombuds Office was first established. Experienced in mediation, she has led many training workshops on conflict resolution and she has designed national professional development programs for organizational ombuds.

She served three terms on the Board of Directors of The Ombudsman Association, 1993–99 and 2004–05, and one year on the Board of Directors of the International Ombudsman Association (IOA), 2005–06. She serves as President for the Board of Certification for Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioners (CO-OPSM).

Marsha's Ph.D. is in the field of Chinese and comparative literature; she was previously affiliated with Columbia University as assistant and associate professor of Chinese literature and director of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library.

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JANIS SCHONAUER
Corporate Ombudsman, AllianceBernstein L.P.

Prior to AllianceBernstein, Ms. Schonauer was Ombudsman at the University of California, Irvine, where she helped establish the  Campus Mediation Program, and Caltech, where she worked to resolve problems and develop programs to better serve the needs of the faculty, staff and students.  During that time she served as the President of the University and College Ombuds Association (UCOA).

Ms. Schonauer teaches classes on listening skills and conflict resolution. She served as President of the International Ombudsman Association in 2006 and 2007.  Janis has a BA in Psychology from Michigan State University and a Masters in Public Administration from California State University, Fullerton and is a Certified Master Gardner.

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JOHNSTON S. BARKAT (INVITED)
Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Ombudsman & Mediation Services

Mr. Barkat serves as Assistant Secretary-General heading the UN’s Ombudsman and Mediation programs. He serves as a senior adviser to the Secretary-General and also reports to the UN General Assembly.

He and his team provide mediation and conflict resolution services to all staff of the UN Secretariat, UNICEF, UNDP, UNOPS, UNFPA and UNHCR through offices located in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Bangkok, Santiago, Khartoum (Sudan) and Kinshasa (Congo).

His Ph.D. research from Columbia University focused on negotiating intractable conflicts. He also serves as distinguished visiting professor of management at Pace University.