The Mary Rowe Honorary Keynote Address critiques an area in the ombuds profession that warrants discussion, debate, and exploration. This keynote embodies the spirit of the significant contributions that Mary Rowe graciously and selflessly provided the organization ombuds profession and associations throughout her career.

“Where is your middle?” is the refrain for this morning’s keynote. The middle is familiar territory for the ombuds, and using Korean Folklore, early 1900s art movements, and elsewhere as points of reference, we will dive further into the depths of that space in search of content, meaning, and guidance. How we navigate our respective middles as individual practitioners and as an association affects our service to our visitors and organizations. Locating and knowing the profoundly human experiences which can only happen in the in-between is essential to our work and both a gift for and of this profession.

Jon Lee is currently an associate ombuds at the University of New Mexico Ombuds for Staff Office. His academic and professional experiences include work/study in human development, Jungian psychology, art criticism & history, mythology, and law. He loves working as an ombud because it is an elegant meeting point and melting pot for these seemingly unrelated fields.