Donna Louden

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Donna Louden has served as a facilitator, mediator, and conflict coach in the field of dispute resolution since 1999. She has 20 years’ experience as an organizational ombuds and currently works for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Prior to NREL, she was the Associate Director of the ombuds office at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and served as ombuds at the University of California, Irvine. As an organizational ombuds, she helps others engage in effective communication and problem solving. Donna is considered a subject matter expert in interpersonal and organizational conflict management. She is a principal instructor for the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and has taught professional skills, ethics, and best practices to hundreds of ombuds and mediators from all over the world. She recently developed the curriculum and implemented a new virtual ombud’s training program for IOA that has dramatically increased the organization’s training capacity. She earned a B.A. from Loyola Marymount University. She also has an M.A. from California State University, Fullerton, where her focus of study and research was in cross-cultural conflict.