Strong Ombuds programs are built intentionally and sustained by supporting both the program and the practitioner.
Strong Ombuds programs are not declared into being. They are designed, staffed, launched, and sustained.
Understand what an Ombuds function is and what it is not.
Create the structure that supports real independence.
Find the right Ombuds for your context.
Set the program and the practitioner up to begin well.
Assess, adapt, and strengthen over time.
Start wherever you are. No organization needs all five stages, and none has to begin at the beginning.
In detail
Stage 01
Help leaders and stakeholders understand what an Ombuds function is and is not, how it differs from other resources, what independence means in practice, what it can realistically accomplish, and what the organization actually needs.
Stage 02
Create the structures and conditions that give the program a real chance to succeed: role definition, charter and terms, reporting relationships, independence, scope, access, interfaces with other offices, resources, communications, and implementation planning.
Stage 03
Bring Ombuds-specific expertise to candidate identification and selection. Amity Conflict Specialists may define the ideal profile, review applications, identify strong candidates, develop and evaluate interview questions, participate in interviews, assess fit, and advise on final selection.
A boundary worth naming. Amity Conflict Specialists provides expert assessment and selection support, not search administration. Your HR or search team continues to handle job posting, scheduling, routine applicant communications, paperwork, and logistics.
Stage 04
Prepare both the program and the practitioner to begin well: onboarding, stakeholder introductions, organizational education, early priorities, communications, relationship-building, and real support for a new Ombuds.
Stage 05
Help established programs assess, adapt, troubleshoot, strengthen, recalibrate, and grow, while helping practitioners deepen judgment, broaden conflict-engagement capabilities, and continue developing.
Two sides of Ombuds success
For the program
Helping organizations understand, design, staff, launch, assess, strengthen, and evolve Ombuds functions.
For the practitioner
Individualized support for navigating the role, developing judgment and practice, expanding capabilities, and having an experienced Ombuds colleague to think alongside.
Amity Conflict Specialists supports both.
For the practitioner
Ombuds create space every day for other people to think through difficult situations. Ombuds need that space, too.
Amity Conflict Specialists provides individualized mentoring and coaching with an experienced Ombuds practitioner. It is a place to think aloud, test assumptions, navigate difficult dynamics, strengthen judgment, develop skills, and continue evolving professionally.
Think of it as an Ombuds for the Ombuds.
Amity Conflict Specialists can provide independent mentoring, coaching, and professional support to your organization’s Ombuds. It is support the role genuinely requires and that few organizations can offer internally.
Practitioners may engage Amity Conflict Specialists directly. You do not need to wait for your organization to provide mentoring, and you do not need its permission to seek an experienced colleague to think alongside.
Practitioner development
Much of what makes this work difficult sits outside the conventional Ombuds toolkit. Drawing on the Comprehensive Conflict Engagement Model (CCEM), Amity Conflict Specialists helps practitioners expand their conflict-engagement repertoire so that more of what actually arises in the role is something you have a way to meet.
Experienced Ombuds are an explicit audience for this work, not an afterthought. Depth of practice is not the same as breadth of capability, and the two develop differently.
Amity Conflict Specialists is led by Birthe C. Reimers, PhD. Her work spans organizational Ombuds practice, university Ombuds leadership, multi-campus program leadership, external organizational Ombuds engagements, and PhD-level conflict expertise, alongside Ombuds program development, practitioner mentoring, and the development of the Comprehensive Conflict Engagement Model (CCEM).
That combination matters. It means the advice you get comes from someone who has held the role, built the structures, and sat with the hard conversations, rather than someone describing the work from the outside.
I have done this work from the inside.
I know how complex it can be.
You do not need to arrive with a defined scope of work. Sometimes the need is a single conversation. Sometimes it becomes a longer engagement. We start by understanding what is happening, what you need, and what would be useful.
One conversation or a defined piece of work when you need an independent perspective on a specific question, challenge, or decision.
Advisory support across the Ombuds program lifecycle, from exploration and design through launch, evaluation, transition, and continued development.
Independent mentoring and coaching for Ombuds practitioners who want a confidential thought partner as they navigate cases, role complexity, professional development, or the demands of the work.
Amity Conflict Specialists is available for a single conversation about a problem you are turning over, or for sustained support as your program or practice evolves.