About us

^{"Fenix is the first organisation that asked me human questions and made me feel like they really care. They made me feel safe and supported" - client from Somalia}

Our vision

Our vision is a world in which every person who is forced to flee has effective, dignified and safe access to the fundamental right to international protection.

Our mission is twofold:

Providing Holistic and Empowering Legal Aid

We create positive impact for people who seek asylum in terms of their well-being, empowerment and access to rights.

Working Towards Justice

We advocate for a structurally more fair and just asylum system in Greece and Europe at large.

Our values

Holistic Legal Aid

Moving beyond people with asylum claims as ‘cases’, we approach each client as an individual with their own dreams, hopes, skills and challenges that need to be addressed in an interconnected way, to ensure for a dignified and effective legal service.

Empowerment

In a highly disempowering context marked by a lack of information and rights violations, we offer individuals access to tools and knowledge that allow them take back some of the control over their lives, cases and well-being.

Professionalism

Working in a context of scarcity and power-imbalances does not impact the level of professionalism with which we deliver our services. Our work is guided by our Code of Conduct, and provided by highly skilled and trained staff.

Responsibility

We recognize the situation of vulnerability our clients are in, and the additional adverse effects this context can have on clients as well as staff. Our teams are trained on trauma-informed service provision, with the aim of preventing retraumatization and secondary trauma.

A multidisciplinary team

Maaike Vledder

Country Director

Abby Field

Head of Programs and SOGI Legal Expert

Dimitra Linardaki

Legal Coordinator

Miriana Riccio

Protection Coordinator

Luiza Vinhal

Legal and Protection Officer

Danielle Cook

Legal Officer

Charlotte Dotaro

Legal Officer

Greek Board of Directors

Amanda Munoz de Toro

Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Greek Board

Ana Liz Chiban

Co-Founder & Co-Director of the Greek Board

USA Board of Trustees

Inês Avelãs

Member of the USA Board of Trustees

Matthew Shroyer

Treasurer of the USA Board of Trustees

Sangeetha Iengar

President of the USA Board of Trustees

Andrew Tripp

Vice-President of the USA Board of Trustees

Mazelle Etessami