Douglas Rutzen is President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL). Under his leadership, ICNL has worked in over 90 countries on the legal framework for civil society and civic participation.
Doug is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches international civil society law. Doug previously taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Central European University.
Doug has written and edited a series of publications, including a textbook on NGO law, and he is a noted commentator on issues of civil society law. Doug sits on the Advisory Group of Civil Society Watch and on the International Advisory Committee of Independent Sector. In addition, he is Chair of the East-West Management Institute and serves on the Steering Committee of the United States International Grantmaking (USIG) Project
Prior to joining ICNL, Doug taught law at Charles Law Faculty in Prague, served as Legal Advisor to the Czechoslovak Parliament, and was an associate at Coudert Brothers, where he worked on international law, antitrust law, and Supreme Court litigation. In addition, Doug has undertaken pioneering work to hold state sponsors of terrorism legally responsible for their actions, serving as co-counsel on the first case against Libya for the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Doug first began working with civil society in the mid 1980’s, when he served as a consultant to Helen Keller International in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Doug is a graduate of Yale Law School, with undergraduate studies at Cornell and Oxford (Worcester College).