Douglas Rutzen is President and CEO of ICNL, which has worked in 100 countries on the legal framework for civil society, public participation, and digital technology.  Doug is also on the faculty of Georgetown Law School, where he teaches international civil society law in the digital era.

In the early 1990s, Doug was Legal Advisor in the Czechoslovak Parliament, where he helped draft the country’s nonprofit laws.  Doug also had the privilege of working with colleagues in Estonia on their laws governing associations and foundations, which informed legislative initiatives around the world.

ICNL co-chairs the Freedom Online Coalition’s Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights.  In addition, Doug serves on the Open Government Partnership’s steering committee and the OECD Civic Space Observatory’s advisory group.  Doug previously served on the advisory board of the United Nations Democracy Fund and co-chaired the civil society pillar of the Community of Democracies. 

Doug first began working with civil society in the 1980s, helping to empower persons with disabilities in the Caribbean, South America, and Asia.  Doug is a graduate of Yale Law School, with undergraduate studies at Cornell and Oxford.