The CIC Ombuds Team: An Independent and Confidential Resource for Staff and Management

Independent. Impartial. Informal. Confidential.

The term “ombuds” (pronounced “ahm–buhds”) comes from a Swedish term meaning “a person who has an ear to the people.”

CIC has five ombuds who serve CIC’s Warsaw, Tokyo, Rotterdam, and North American Campuses (see bios below). CIC’s Ombuds Team members are available to work with CIC staff to surface and resolve work-related issues. The ombuds are an independent, impartial, informal, and confidential resource for CIC employees. The ombuds supplements but does not replace CIC’s formal administrative channels at CIC or talking with your manager.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the ombuds function:

About the Ombuds Team at CIC:

CIC employees are welcome to contact one of the ombuds below to discuss your concerns and options for resolution. Even though CIC has ombuds dedicated to each CIC campus worldwide, CICers are welcome to contact any ombuds they would like to work with.

CIC North America

Jai Calloway (pronounced “Jay-ah”) (jai-ombuds@mwi.org) is an experienced, people-focused ombudsperson with a mission to redefine the way people understand and work together by harnessing the power of difference. Jai has spent over ten years working and studying conflict resolution methodology and its intersection with diversity and inclusion within organizational settings. Jai previously served as Corporate Ombuds for Halliburton Oil Services and serves as an external organizational ombuds for small businesses cross-industry. She is an alumnus of the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law – Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution. Jai was Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section and was Chair of the International Ombuds Association Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Task Force. In addition to her work as an ombuds, Jai works as an organizational development consultant, where her focuses are conflict resolution, employee engagement and diversity & inclusion. Schedule a time to talk with Jai by sending an email to jai-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling 346-546-9396.

Chuck Doran (chuck-ombuds@mwi.org) is an experienced ombuds, mediator, and dispute resolution trainer. Chuck is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP) and a member of the International Ombudsman Association who completed ombuds training with the IOA in 1995. Chuck has served as an ombuds for the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution and serves as an external organizational ombuds for a companies and universities around the US. In addition to his ombuds work, Chuck works nationally and internationally as a dispute resolution trainer and consultant with corporate, governmental and non-profit clients including Coca-Cola Enterprises, General Motors, Bose Corporation, and the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School. In 1993, Chuck completed a Specialization in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at the Program on Negotiation and chaired two regional ADR Conferences in 1997 and 1999. Chuck served as a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution and was 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. Read about Chuck’s work as an ombuds by clicking here. Book a time to talk with Chuck at: https://calendly.com/chuckdoran or by calling 617-895-4026.

CIC Rotterdam

willem kweens ombuds Willem Kweens (willem-ombuds@mwi.org) is a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (COOP) who began his work as an ombuds within Mars Inc. in 2009. Willem was initially responsible for Central- and Eastern Europe and for Western Europe (approx. 15.000 Associates spread across 60+ sites). He served factories and multi-segmented offices at Mars. The Mars Ombuds-Team reported into the CEO of Mars and served as an alternative communication channel where associates could share work related issues, based on the four cornerstones of IOA’s Standards of Practice. Willem was also part of setting up an additional virtual ombuds tool within Mars and was responsible for tendering, designing, and implementing this completely virtual environment to serve 70-80k Associates globally. In addition to providing ombuds services for employees, Willem was responsible for the finance/budgets and multiple ombuds-team OD / reorganizations within the team. In addition, he served as an IOA Board member, was a member of the IOA Executive Committee, and served as an IOA Finance Committee member/Assistant Treasurer. Willem provides his clients with the following skills and commitments which include being a good listener, having a lot of patience, all while being diplomatic and respectful to other people without losing his managerial courage to do what needs to be done. Willem is fluent in Dutch, German and English. Contact Willem via willem-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +31 612 960 403.

CIC Tokyo

Keiko Suzuki (keiko-ombuds@mwi.org) has extensive experience in human resource management, executive coaching, mediation, training, and consulting throughout her twenty-year career with JPMorgan, General Electric, and Estee Lauder Group of Companies in Tokyo and New York City. As a consultant, Keiko has experience with a broad spectrum of clients including major Japanese and foreign finance, consumer goods, telecommunication, recruiting, and pharmaceutical companies. Keiko specializes in a range of organizational and management development solutions including assessment, change strategy formation, leadership development, offsite meeting facilitation, performance management, and career development. Keiko works directly with senior managers in a coaching capacity, as well as engages in other training and development methods for improving communication, coaching skills, feedback, change management, and diversity & inclusion. Keiko completed the Ombuds Foundations Course with the International Ombuds Association in 2016. Since 2020, she has taught mediation at Kumamoto University and conflict coaching at the Hitotsubashi University Business School (ICS). Keiko is a trained and certified coach (ICF, GTCI Team Coach, NLP & Processwork), EAP counselor, and mediator. She is a practitioner of psychometric assessment instruments including Situational Leadership, Team Management Profile, Strength Development Inventory, Lumina Spark, and Personnel Decisions International Assessment. Contact Keiko via keiko-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +(81) 80-1160-5919.

CIC Warsaw

Anna Cybulko (anna-ombuds@mwi.org) was appointed to serve as an ombuds at the University of Warsaw in 2011. She holds two M.A. diplomas: in law, and in psychology, as well as PhD in social studies. Her area of expertise encompasses conflict management and alternative dispute resolution, interpersonal communication, discrimination, bullying and harassment. As an ombuds she supports the academic community in conflict management, intervenes when there is a breach of law or ethics, helps dealing with discrimination and harassment cases. Besides her work as an ombudsman, she is a mediator, moderator, academic teacher and social skills coach. She mediates and facilitates agreements in civil, family, commercial, and labor disputes. She also conducts mediations in social and organizational disputes. Her expertise includes facilitating discussions and debates and dealing with multiparty community conflicts. In this area she cooperates with local governments, including that of the City of Warsaw. Since 2006 she collaborates on permanent basis with Center for Disputes and Conflicts Resolution at the Faculty of Law and Administration, of the University of Warsaw (Centrum Rozwiązywania Sporów i Konfliktow przy Wydziale Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego). She is a member and former vice-president of the Family Mediators’ Association (Stowarzyszenie Mediatorów Rodzinnych – SMR), a board member of European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) and EU expert for gender equality. Anna is fluent in Polish and English and is based in Warsaw. Contact Anna via anna-ombuds@mwi.org or by calling +48 668 161 161.

Contact

Email: Email any ombuds at the email addresses provided above.
Confidential web form: If you have a concern at work and would like to raise it in confidence, please feel free to fill out the web form below.
Phone: Please contact a member of the ombuds team using their phone number listed above.

The CIC Ombuds Team was established under a charter approved by CIC’s CEO. A copy of that charter is available here. The charter incorporates by reference the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the International Ombuds Association (IOA) and requires that the CIC Ombuds Team adhere to the IOA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. The charter, as well as the IOA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, contain important information about the CIC Ombuds Team and the manner in which it functions.

Due to the independent, impartial, informal, and confidential nature of the ombuds function, communication with the ombuds does not constitute formal notice to CIC.