PUBLISHED: JANUARY 1, 2005

The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) is pleased to announce that Mr. Douglas Rutzen assumed the presidency of ICNL as of January 1, 2005. Mr. Rutzen’s appointment offers ICNL the opportunity for continued growth and commitment to civil society legal issues that was spearheaded under outgoing president Stephan Klingelhofer’s tenure.

Mr. Rutzen has a long and dedicated history with ICNL. He opened ICNL’s Washington office and managed ICNL’s cornerstone project, its Central and East European Program, since its inception. For the past decade, he has served on ICNL’s senior management team, helping ICNL develop its programs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. Prior to joining ICNL, Mr. Rutzen taught law at Charles Law Faculty in Prague, served as Legal Advisor to the Czechoslovak Parliament, and worked for a major international law firm. He also worked with the deaf and mute, serving as a consultant to Helen Keller International in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Mr. Rutzen is a graduate of Yale Law School, with undergraduate studies at Cornell and Oxford.

Mr. Rutzen plans to steward ICNL through its next, exciting phase of development. According to Mr. Rutzen, “ICNL is strategically positioned as an essential partner to civil society organizations, governments, donors, businesses and scholars in developing supportive legal environments for a healthy civil society. We see our work as critical to effectively addressing key issues facing the world today including HIV/AIDS, human rights, and poverty reduction; to name just a few. This is an exciting time for ICNL and I hope to work with our partners and staff to maximize the impact of ICNL programs across the globe.”

To learn more about ICNL and its global programs, visit www.icnl.org