General Counsel Interview with Steven Routburg
S
teven Routburg joined Rotary International’s staff in 1996 and has been General Counsel since
1999. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and received his undergraduate business degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He and his staff counsel the leadership of Rotary International, The Rotary Foundation and the Secretariat staff on a wide range of issues about law, and legal and corporate policy. The Office of the General Counsel also supports the organization’s Council on Legislation and manages the grant stewardship function for The Rotary Foundation. steven.routburg@rotary.org
What are the key issues you deal with? Routburg: Variety is one of the most appealing aspects of my job. Rotary is everywhere, with over 40,000 member clubs engaged in service activities and charitable work in over 200 countries and geographic areas, including all 50 states. With administrative offices in seven countries, maintaining compliance globally can be daunting. Not surprisingly, evolving tax-exempt and data privacy regulations are two challenges we face. We simply don’t have the resources to operate customized processes in numerous jurisdictions. For instance, as privacy laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation are implemented, we have generally been forced to apply restrictions on a global basis. Our systems can’t easily apply different processes for different regions.
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