Marcus Stergio serves as the Ombuds for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Spearheading the agency’s Ombuds Service, Mr. Stergio is a neutral and confidential resource available to OFCCP stakeholders nationwide, including federal contractors and subcontractors, contractor representatives, industry groups, law firms, worker rights organizations, or potential, current, and former employees of federal contractors and subcontractors.
Within the agency’s mission to protect workers, promote diversity, and enforce civil rights laws, Marcus addresses concerns related to OFCCP policies and practices and serves as an informal facilitator of disputes. His position is structured independent of other agency divisions, allowing him the autonomy to advocate for transparency, fair processes, and efficient operations as they relate to and include all constituents.
Mr. Stergio is a versatile conflict resolution practitioner whose experience outside of ombuds work includes mediation, arbitration, organizational systems design, dispute resolution systems management, group facilitation and conflict resolution training. His prior mediation practice focused primarily on workplace and employment cases. As an external consultant to organizations small and large, Marcus has facilitated agreements among disputing co-workers, managers and their direct reports, employees alleging discrimination, and entities negotiating termination, dissolution, and business transition plans. As an organizational conflict analyst, he has experience identifying systemic issues while developing and delivering programs to address the needs of workers and employers. Mr. Stergio served on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s mediation panel for workplace discrimination and the Massachusetts Bar Association’s arbitration panel. He has administered the dispute resolution processes for a number of multi-national organizations, helping hundreds of corporate clients reach resolution on commercial, bankruptcy, franchise and workplace conflicts. Along with his own mediation caseload, he managed a variety of panels and mentored over 100 mediators from across the country, including a mediation program operating within the Massachusetts trial court system.
Mr. Stergio has taught undergraduate negotiation and conflict resolution courses and has conducted mediation, negotiation, and collaborative communication trainings for higher education institutions such as Harvard University, Boston College Law School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University School of Law, and Tufts University, as well as executive leadership teams at General Motors, BMW North America, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other corporate and public sector clients.
Marcus is a member of the International Ombuds Association and the Coalition of Federal Ombudsman. He received a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution from the University of Massachusetts with concentrations in organizational and international dispute resolution systems, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies and Business Administration from Northeastern University.