Nellie Haddad attended the University of California-Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in English literature. She was a visiting assistant professor of Shakespeare at the University of Montana, where she taught for four years. She later returned to UC-Berkeley, where she accepted the first of several administrative positions before pursuing a master’s degree in international relations from the University of South Carolina and another master’s degree in conflict resolution and mediation from Champlain College in Vermont.
Her interests included democracy, human rights and international conflict. During her studies, she interned for the U.S. Department of State at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and the Middle East Human Rights Desk. Her broad mediation and conflict resolution experience includes real estate and probate disputes, roommate and neighbor disputes, and staff and faculty conflicts. She is a member of the International Ombuds Association and continues to play an active part in that organization, seeking training and community-building opportunities.
Patricia Bradford is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and a doctoral candidate in the Counselor Education & Supervision program here at UW. Originally from Baton Rouge, LA, she received both her bachelor's degree in psychology (2014) and her master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (2018) from the University of New Orleans. Patricia spent her time working as a mental health counselor primarily in the field of substance abuse treatment for several years before moving from New Orleans to Laramie in the fall of 2021 to pursue her PhD.
In addition to being the Graduate Administrative Assistant for the UW Office of the Ombudsperson, Patricia does private practice work counseling individuals, couples, and families. While Patricia's training and experience as a mental health counselor inform her interpersonal skills and understanding of how to navigate conflict, her role with the Ombuds Office is to assist the Ombudsperson in fostering resolution-finding for those seeking assistance in navigating conflict.
It is the goal of the Ombuds Office at the University of Wyoming to provide the university community an informal setting in which to share dilemmas, ideas, questions, without fear of exposure, retaliation, or recrimination. The office is committed to serving with the International Ombuds Association best practice principles: informal, confidential, impartial, independent. It is our mandate to give voice to the university community, and to protect those voices. We will engage and support people and divisions to improve communications and policies. Our mandate includes resolving conflict, shedding light on serious concerns, mediating, facilitating difficult conversations, giving the community tools to disagree productively, educating, and coaching. The Ombuds Office, in every instance, will advocate for fairness and equity.
