In the demanding world of human rights, where burnout is rampant and resources are scarce, Anna Rottenecker is building a new kind of infrastructure. Her organization, The Phoenix Initiative for Human Dignity, is a quiet, digital sanctuary designed to sustain the people on the front lines of upholding human dignity.
There are moments in a life that, in retrospect, serve as a clean point of division, a line drawn between one self and another. For Anna Rottenecker, one such moment occurred not in a single instant, but over a period of time spent in the world of high-stakes sports sponsorships. As an Event Manager for a Swiss insurance company, she found herself organizing corporate hospitality at prestigious tournaments like the Davis Cup and the Spengler Cup in Davos. It was a world of glamour, influence, and immense financial investment. It was also, she came to feel, a world of “meaningless waste.” The stark contrast between the enormous sums of money spent on these events and the pressing needs she knew existed elsewhere began to create a profound sense of dissonance.
This feeling propelled Anna to leave. She took time off for reflection, a journey that led her through the countries of Southern Africa. There, in a township, she began working in a local HIV clinic. The clinic, along with a host of other vital community projects, was run by volunteers and local groups operating with almost no funding. The resourcefulness and dedication she witnessed stood in sharp relief to the world she had left behind. The experience planted a seed. It was the beginning of what she now calls her “second life.”
A Second Life, Forged in Scarcity
Originally from Germany, Anna returned to Switzerland and, with the support of the country’s robust social security system, took her first step into her new career. It was a modest beginning: a six-month, less-than-half-time position with Caritas, fundraising for a national awareness campaign. This was her entry point into the non-profit sector. But the realities of this new world quickly became apparent. Just a year and a half later, she was made redundant from another NGO due to a lack of funding.
It was after this setback that she found her true calling with the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT). The years she spent with the APT were formative. Anna met some of the most inspiring and dedicated figures in the human rights sector. She also experienced firsthand the immense challenges these organizations face. She lived through the beginning of a period of strategic change, a time when funding streams were quietly beginning to decline. She raised concerns about the organizational risks she saw on the horizon, but her warnings were not heard. This experience—witnessing the vulnerability of even established organizations—would deeply inform the work she does today. Her journey had taken another turn, from a general interest in non-profit work to a specific, focused passion for human rights and, crucially, for the organizational resilience required to sustain that work.
This passion was further ignited during her engagements with grassroots organizations in Africa and Asia. In conversations with local leaders, she heard a recurring story of frustration. They felt overwhelmed by the expectations of international funders, discouraged by the slow, inherent pace of progress in human dignity work, and exhausted by the increasing barriers put in their way. They were in desperate need of professional fundraising and management support, but could not possibly afford it. “I kept thinking that there must be a way to share this knowledge with those on the ground who are, in the end, the real bastion of upholding human dignity in their communities,” Anna recalls.
From this identified need, The Phoenix Initiative for Human Dignity (PH-I) was born. Founded in 2024, it was conceived as a collaborative, fully remote platform. Its mission is to support the civil society organizations, informal groups, and movements working on the front lines of the rule of law, human rights, democracy, and justice. The goal is not to lead their work, but to help them build the resilient, healthy organizational structures they need to survive and thrive. It is meant to be a safe space for human rights defenders to learn from each other’s challenges, share opportunities, and access the knowledge and tools required to withstand today’s threats.
The Vicious Cycle of Support
Through her work, Anna identified a series of systemic challenges that grassroots organizations, particularly in the Global South, consistently face. Many of these challenges, she notes, are inadvertently created by the very funding systems meant to support them, creating a kind of vicious cycle.
International funders are often happy to pay for training and organizational development for local groups. However, the knowledge gained from these training sessions rarely stays with the organization for long. “Salaries are often so low that the staff that received training soon walks off for better paid positions in international NGOs that have a local office in their country,” Anna explains. The grassroots organization is then forced to hire new staff, who in turn need to be trained. However, funders typically only offer this kind of support once or twice in a funding cycle, and so valuable knowledge is perpetually lost.
Another challenge lies in how funding is allocated. Much of human dignity work involves advocacy, legal advice, and training—activities that are labor-intensive and require salaries for skilled people. “Funders have a hard time to accept that this is where their investment will generate the highest impact,” Anna says. They often fail to recognize that the cost of living in many parts of the Global South can be just as high as in the Global North.
Finally, there is the sheer administrative burden. Western funding frameworks are often rigid, with overwhelming paperwork and strict requirements, such as formal NGO registration, heavy reporting, the existence and application of formal internal policies, to name just a few. Many grassroots organizations struggle to meet these demands effectively locking them out of potential support.
An Architecture of Accessible Resilience
The Phoenix Initiative was designed specifically to address these challenges. Anna developed a triangular approach built on Knowledge, Learning, and Cooperation. The entire platform is online-based, making it accessible from anywhere, at any time, and affordable. This model is a direct response to the realities of her target audience. Civil society organizations in restrictive environments are often under intense observation and cannot travel safely or easily. The relative anonymity of the internet allows them to access resources and engage with peers at a decreased risk. Furthermore, human rights defenders are chronically short on both time and funding. An online, on-demand platform allows them to access resources when they have a moment, or when they are facing a specific problem, accelerating their ability to find solutions.
Knowledge is currently delivered through two key resources. The first is a Virtual Encyclopaedia of organizational management resources, tailored to the unique needs of human rights organizations, all housed in one place at www.phoenix-initiative.org. The second is the Dignity Funding Sphere (www.dignity-funding.com), the only donor database dedicated solely to funding for peace, justice, human rights, democracy, and SDG 16.
Learning at PH-I is defined by a blend of expert online content, peer-to-peer exchange, and dedicated coaching. The platform offers e-learning modules that are not bound by time or place, allowing organizations to train new staff on an ongoing basis and combat the “brain drain” effect. A central part of the learning model is the podcast, “PH-I Against the Odds,” where Anna interviews practitioners from around the world to share their lessons learned from both successes and failures.
Cooperation is the third pillar. In a competitive and often isolating field, Anna believes that solidarity is essential for building operational resilience. The Phoenix Initiative facilitates networking among like-minded organizations, helps generate first contact with human rights funders, and promotes the concept of joining forces through consortia to strengthen their collective voice and impact.
The Leader at the Helm
As the founder of an organization still in its start-up phase, Anna’s daily life is a balancing act. As a mother of two, she typically wakes up around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. to get work done before her children wake up. The initiative is currently funded by her own ongoing consulting engagements, a reality that creates significant time constraints. “I constantly struggle where to best put my energy,” she admits. “I have learned to be very gentle with myself in this regard now.” Her day is currently divided between her paid work, building the first e-learning module for PH-I with her team, and cultivating a community of collaborators.
The working days are long, but the motivation is clear and consistent. “The recognition I receive from human dignity leaders on the ground who hear about the initiative and keep telling me how important access to knowledge and learning at any time and from everywhere is to them is enough for me to continue,” Anna says.
Her personal philosophy is deeply embedded in the organization’s work. She deliberately uses the term “human dignity” instead of the more common “human rights.” For her, the concept of human dignity is more intrinsic and encompassing. It implies that every person has a special value simply by virtue of being human. “Upholding the dignity of a person,” Anna explains, “also means to actively listen, and ask, not assume, what is needed to protect and promote human dignity. It helps me to stay grounded and to always see the person as the main reason for the actions we undertake.” This same nuanced perspective applies to how she views impact. While working towards systemic change is the ultimate goal, she believes every small victory along the way is a tangible impact—a media report raising awareness, a victim gaining access to justice, a parliamentarian ready to work on a new law.
A Vision for a Sustainable Future
Though Anna says she is “exploding with ideas,” she has learned to take her vision for The Phoenix Initiative one step at a time. Her immediate plans include expanding her peer-exchange podcast series and building out a comprehensive, accessible e-learning platform. She dreams of a day when this platform can offer a viable alternative for grassroots leaders who are often swamped with time-consuming capacity-building requirements, freeing them up to do the essential work they are there for. She also envisions creating a space where these leaders know who to call for practical advice and can find peers to share their struggles and worries with.
Beyond her professional life, she finds grounding and replenishment in her family and her creative pursuits. After challenging days, she enjoys the simple moments with her children—their uncomplicated views on the world, their joy over an ice cream. She loves creating things with her hands, from sewing and baking to transforming fruits from her garden into juice and renovating furniture. Her friends, many of whom have chosen completely different life paths, provide a vital space for her to disconnect and recharge.
When asked what she would say to human rights defenders who feel isolated in their mission, Anna’s message is one of solidarity and connection. “I would like them to know that they are not alone, that we are here to listen to them, their challenges, and to support their hard work,” she says. She wants them to understand that if it is not possible to meet in person, human online contact can be a powerful and effective alternative.
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