Ombuds Blog 2025 Year in Review

For several years now, I have recapped the most important new about Organizational Ombuds. Full details are available on my blog.

Transitions

• Retirements and Passings — Several Ombuds announced their retirements last year and seven retired Ombuds passed away.

• New and Expanded Offices — In 2025, 36 organizations created or expanded the scope of their Ombuds programs. This represented a decline from 58 programs in 2024 and 72 in 2023. (As in prior years, the total includes a small number of offices that launched quietly or were identified retroactively, and excludes programs created by organizations that have not made details public.)
  
• Closed Offices — Tracking Ombuds office closures remains difficult, as organizations rarely make public announcements. Based on available information, seven organizations closed their Ombuds programs in 2025.
  
• Job Postings — Job postings continued a multiyear decline in 2025, with 79 openings and RFPs identified. This was down from 117 in 2024, 138 in 2023, and 143 in 2022.

Key Stories

Many of the significant stories from 2024 continue to be relevant: the Canadian government continued to add Ombuds; practitioners continued to debate the pros and cons of external Ombuds services; and campus protests, especially in North America, continued to echo in casework. Meanwhile, the recognition of Ombuds by the U.S. Department of Education was undone and fears about losses under the Trump administration came true.

Here are the most important developments of 2025:

• ACCUO Unveils New Website, Branding, Social Media — The Association of Canadian College and University Ombudspersons (ACCUO) debuted a revamped website and branding, including channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. This improved presence reflects a continued commitment to Ombuds in higher education in Canada.
  
• V4 OmbudsLink Begins Work to Promote University Ombuds in Central Europe — University Ombuds in Central Europe launched a regional network to build capacity for Ombuds offices in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Organizers plan to complete a multilingual “toolbox” of practical guidance before a conference scheduled for November 2026. These efforts could stimulate the early success of university Ombuds in the region.
  
• IOA Published its Long-Awaited Book — The International Ombuds Association finally published its first book: The Organizational Ombuds: Foundations, Fundamentals & The Future. Written by practicing Ombuds (and edited by Shannon Lynn Burton, Ph.D., CHRS and Loraleigh Keashly), the book is a comprehensive compilation of the interdisciplinary and nuanced history, theory, and practices found within the field. It is destined to be a primary reference.
  
• UN Report Will Guide Reforms for Ombuds Network — A United Nations review of its Ombuds and mediation programs, found measurable progress since 2015, but also persistent gaps in independence, access, and resourcing. The report called for changes that will impact Ombuds offices across the UN and its affiliated organizations for years.
  
• A New Administration Slashed Ombuds Programs in the U.S. — As anticipated (by Mauricio (Reese) Ramos, Esq. in a guest post), many Ombuds in the United States were impacted by the new presidential administration. In the federal sector, many Ombuds programs were reduced or shut down entirely (for example, the State Department, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and Brookhaven National Lab). Exact numbers are impossible to know because many federal agencies are opaque about their Ombuds programs. In addition, the website for the Interagency ADR Working Group was taken down including all content for the Coalition of Federal Ombuds, a huge loss of content for the sector.
  
• Ombuds Began to Wrestle With the Growing Impact of AI — The big story continues to be the role of artificial intelligence in the work of Ombuds. As AI becomes part of the workplace, Ombuds are warily watching how the new technology is affecting their visitors. Some Ombuds are beginning to incorporate AI into their work, although it is not clear where the boundaries will be drawn. One early indication came from Ombuds, Dr. Tanneh K. and Shawn Addison, who adopted clear AI policies for their office and visitors. In what may become a seminal article on the issue, Brian Green argues that Ombuds should approach AI cautiously and critically, viewing it through their core function as humanizers within organizational systems.

Tom Kosakowski

USC University Ombuds, Health Sciences Campus Tom Kosakowski, JD, serves as the University Ombuds for the Health Sciences Campus, including affiliated schools, hospitals, clinics, and research facilities. Prior to establishing the office at USC, Tom served in a similar capacity as the Ombuds for the Health System at UCLA for… MORE