Caitlan Hendrickson serves as Conflict Resolution Advisor for the Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes, providing informal dispute resolution services to UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNOPS, and UN-Women. She has over twenty years of experience in dispute resolution (DR) and over fifteen years of experience leading DR offices in large multicultural organizations. With extensive experience working in a wide variety of settings – including in higher education, healthcare, court, government, and non-profit organizations – she enjoys tailoring her extensive experience and training in conflict engagement practices and human relations to the unique needs of the individuals, groups, and organizations she serves. This experience ranges from one-on-one coaching and consulting to mediations, large-group processes and interventions, Ombuds work, restorative practices, and in-depth trainings. She has mediated over five hundred cases, trained hundreds of mediators, and supervised and mentored over one-hundred mediators. She has been a member of the International Ombuds Association since 2011 and brings a background in Ombuds work that is truly multidisciplinary, bridging countless academic disciplines, social service, emergency response, healthcare, and research and innovation. She entered the Ombuds profession as a mediator and restorative justice practitioner having also had extensive experience working with disadvantaged and marginalized communities in the social service sector, where she specialized in multicultural inclusion and trauma-informed work – including with survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence, unhoused and at-risk populations, foster families, and people experiencing food insecurity. Caitlan is experienced and skilled in working with a wide variety of communities and individuals with diverse identities and lived experiences, from refugees and remote rural communities to senior level executives and complex institutions. Before joining the UN she led the Ombuds Office at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which she joined after over a decade leading DR/Ombuds offices in large multicultural academic institutions with international programs and constituencies. This work also included running a Restorative Justice Program, Neutral Observer Program, and court-based mediation clinic. In addition, Caitlan spent years volunteering with torture survivors, asylum seekers, and refugees.
Caitlan holds a Master of Education in Human Relations, a graduate certificate in Educational Technology – Adult Learning & Training, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, Spanish, and Planning, Public Policy, and Management, including minors in Peace Studies and Latin American Studies and a professional focus on sustainable community development. In addition, she is completing a doctorate in leadership and has extensive advanced training in a multitude of specialties related to dispute resolution and Ombuds work. She is fluent in both English and Spanish and is working on recovering her abilities in French that she had acquired but in large part lost after focusing exclusively on Spanish. Caitlan has a passion for facilitating transformative educational experiences and for advancing holistic wellness and excellence on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational levels.
