Laura C. Smythe, is University Ombuds at Iowa State University. In this role she serves graduate and professional students; merit, professional and scientific staff; faculty and administrators. She serves as a confidential, informal, impartial, and independent resource. She works with individuals, groups, units, and departments to address concerns about communication, conflicts, culture, and climate and assists with the development of respectful and ethical communication, inclusivity, and ethical leadership. She often brainstorms with visitors about how to approach a difficult situation, she mediates and facilitates conversations among people who are having trouble communicating in a constructive and/or respectful manner, and she also offers trainings, coaching, and skill-building upon request. Smythe does not receive, or issue, complaints and cannot advocate for anyone.
Before serving as University Ombuds for Iowa State University, Smythe served as University Ombuds to the five campuses of University of Idaho. She was there for almost 4 years. For almost two decades Smythe has also worked as an Organizational Culture Diagnostician on behalf of her consulting business, Communication Connections, LLC, which she founded in 2003. In that role, she consults with businesses in almost every industry ranging from small, family-owned businesses, to churches, non-profit organizations, international Fortune 500 companies, and on behalf of a state’s entire Division of Mental Health and Addiction. She serves her clients as a contract Ombuds, a mediator, facilitator, coach, trainer, systems analyst, and conflict management expert. She has worked with dozens of leaders to design ethical and inclusive organizations that value their employees and the communities in which they work.
Smythe has trained nationally and internationally and is particularly intrigued by the subjects of ethical communication, ethical leadership, and trauma-informed ombudsing. She has been recognized by her Ombuds peers as the first Organizational Ombuds to address trauma-informed ombudsing and by her peers in the Wisconsin State Bar as an elite attorney. She was asked by the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to serve on the District 10 Office of Lawyer Regulation Committee and did so for 8 years. She was recently selected to serve as one of two Ombuds for the International Ombuds Association.
Smythe holds a B.A. in Spanish from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH, two Master’s Degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Madison (in Political Science and in Latin American and Iberian Studies) and a Juris Doctorate from University of Wisconsin Law School.