Governance & boards
Oversight, accountability, independence and the practical mechanics that make governance work.
Attorney · Executive · Writer · Teacher
Robert B.
Stratton
I enjoy helping people connect the dots. My work has taken me through technology, law, teaching, and executive leadership. I draw on all of it to understand where someone is coming from, explain things plainly, and help them see how a decision fits into the bigger picture.
Welcome. You’ll find some of my writing and work here, along with a little about the person behind it.
What I think about
Questions I keep coming back to.
I spend a lot of time thinking about how people lead organizations: what they need to know, who gets to decide, and how to make sense of risk. These are a few of the subjects I write and speak about.
Enterprise risk
Risk appetite, assessment, escalation and connecting enterprise risk to actual decisions.
Compliance & ethics
Program effectiveness, organizational behavior and the role of independent judgment.
AI & emerging risk
Governance for technology that moves faster than the structures expected to oversee it.
Selected work
Writing, speaking & conversations.
Publications, keynote addresses, conference presentations, and conversations on healthcare, enterprise risk, board oversight, and the intersection of law and ethics.
Publication
Enterprise Risk Management in Healthcare
HCCA Governance Manual
2025
Publication
ERM in Healthcare — Updated Chapter
HCCA Complete Healthcare Compliance Manual
2026
Podcast
Healthcare Enterprise Risk Assessments
HCCA Compliance Perspectives · Guest conversation
Keynote
Enterprise Risk Governance
HCCA Board & Audit Committee Conference
2023
Speaking
Enterprise Risk Management in Healthcare
HCCA Compliance Institute · Orlando
2026
Speaking
The Board Will See You Now
HCCA Research Compliance Conference · Translating Research Risk into Board-Level Governance
2026
Faculty speaker
Legal Solutions to Ethical Problems
Kinsman Bioethics Conference
2025
Speaking
Risk Governance
Operations Technology Management Conference
2022
A little about me
How I got here.
At Vulcan, I worked on remarkable initiatives, including the Allen Institute for Brain Science. I enjoyed being part of that work, but my role in technology gave me a narrow view. I pursued a law degree and an MBA because I wanted to contribute to the bigger picture: to understand the business, help shape decisions, and take on broader responsibility.
That still motivates me. My career has included private practice, teaching, and leading legal, compliance, and enterprise risk work in healthcare. From 2012 to 2017, I taught as an adjunct professor at several local universities, nearly every quarter or semester. From 2017 to 2022, I taught exclusively at the University of Portland. Teaching was a regular part of my working life for a decade. I like helping leaders understand how their responsibilities fit together and what those responsibilities mean in practice. Sometimes a useful conversation changes how someone sees a problem.
I believe understanding something means being able to explain it simply. I also believe in being nice. You can disagree without being disagreeable, which matters a great deal in legal and compliance work. And a little humor helps.
In private practice, I advised public- and private-sector clients on business law, governance, contracts, and transactions. That included structuring a $10 million public-private venture capital fund and working on business valuations and asset and equity transactions.
At Northwest Permanente, I built enterprise risk management and internal audit programs from the beginning. My responsibilities grew to include compliance, policy systems, investigations, privacy, security and threat management, and legal advice. I also served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Permanente Health Care Ventures.
Working within Kaiser Permanente gave me a view of healthcare that extended beyond the medical group to hospitals, system operations, and insurance. I worked with physician leaders, executives, and boards, including as administrative co-chair of the Board’s Enterprise Risk Management & Audit Committee.
More recently, my work has included predictive-model and AI governance.
Education & admissions
JD · MBA · Attorney licensed in Oregon and Washington
JD · MBA · Attorney licensed in Oregon and Washington
Outside work
A few other things about me.
There’s more to my life than work. Here are a few things I enjoy.
Space, Challenger, and risk
As a kid, I lived just south of Cape Canaveral. Our school took us outside to watch Challenger launch, and I saw it explode live. I’ve been fascinated with space ever since, and fascinated with risk.
The official Challenger investigation and report are still part of my speaking and risk work. One example I use is the way the flight data was framed: looking only at flights with O-ring damage obscured the relationship with temperature. Including flights without damage made the pattern clearer. The frame of reference changes what we see and the decisions we make.
I also use Australian south-up maps, with Australia and Antarctica at the top. They can look startling when you’re used to north being at the top. But north-up is a convention; there’s no absolute up or down in space.
Challenger Commission report: the two graphs ↗
What I read
I love science fiction. Space battles are part of the appeal, but so are the questions about people: how we live together, what we value, and what we might become. I especially enjoy stories that imagine an optimistic future.
I read around 50 books a year, mostly science fiction. My dad found an author-signed copy of Dune in Port Townsend. He likes telling that story, so I’ll leave the telling to him.
Technology, at home and on the road
I travel a lot, and I like being prepared. A GL.iNet travel router is part of my kit, along with the other technology that lets me work and stay connected while I’m away. I enjoy getting it all set up. Ideally, the adventure is in the trip rather than in getting my devices to cooperate.
That interest extends to projects at home: electric vehicles, e-bikes, solar and battery systems, networking, and my QNAP server. I also experiment with scripting and AI agents. There’s usually something to configure, improve, or figure out.
Whiskey
I’m interested in whiskey: how it’s made, how distillation affects the result, and why one tastes different from another. The Multnomah Whiskey Library is a place I’m interested in exploring.
People, dogs, and getting away
My wife, Amy, and I have three kids. I enjoy traveling with her and spending time on the water. Dogs are part of everyday life, too. Anyone who has spent time on a video call with me may have met a few of them.
Executive profile
My experience at a glance.
Attorney and senior executive with experience spanning healthcare law, compliance, enterprise risk, board governance, internal audit, and technology. Built enterprise programs, advised boards and executive leaders, served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for a healthcare venture subsidiary, and taught graduate business students.
Download executive profile ↓ PDFNorthwest Permanente, P.C. | Kaiser Permanente
Senior General Counsel; Corporate Compliance Official; Executive Director, Enterprise Risk Management & Security
Built the ERM and internal audit infrastructure; led compliance and advised on healthcare regulation, investigations, privacy, physician arrangements, telehealth, and AI governance. Served as administrative co-chair of the Board’s Enterprise Risk Management & Audit Committee. Scope included two hospitals and approximately 40 clinics.
Permanente Health Care Ventures, P.C.
General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer
Founding executive supporting innovative healthcare initiatives. Designed governance and compliance structures and advised on partnerships, inter-entity arrangements, technology agreements, and regulatory risk.
RBS Law LLC | 2011-2019
Attorney & Principal
Advised public- and private-sector clients on corporate law, governance, contracting, restructuring, valuation, and transactions. Structured a $10 million public-private venture capital fund.
Adjunct teaching | 2012–2022
Former Adjunct Professor
Taught nearly every quarter or semester at several local universities from 2012 to 2017, then exclusively at the University of Portland from 2017 to 2022. Courses included finance, economics, enterprise risk management, corporate governance and compliance, valuation, and business technology.
Vulcan Inc. | 2000-2007
IT Manager
Led technology operations supporting biomedical research and aviation initiatives, including the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Next conversations
Let’s talk.
If something here interests you, I’d enjoy hearing from you. I’m happy to talk about leadership, a question you’re working through, speaking opportunities, or working together.
Start a conversation ↗For independent legal and consulting work: Officer and the Board ↗