Catherine Bukhal

Senior Partnership Lead - SDG Impact Finance Initiative

The SDG Impact Finance Initiative (SIFI) is a Swiss-founded public-private platform that pools public and philanthropic catalytic capital to mobilise private investment in emerging and developing economies. Launched at Building Bridges in 2021 and now backed by the governments of Switzerland, Luxembourg and South Korea alongside leading foundations, SIFI deploys through three windows: early grants for financial innovation, junior equity and guarantees that de-risk commercial capital, and ecosystem work on impact measurement and market barriers. Every franc SIFI has invested has brought around six francs of private capital alongside it, across a portfolio spanning Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Catherine Bukhal leads partnerships and fundraising at SIFI, where she has shaped the partnership strategy behind its growth from a Swiss initiative into an international platform, and convenes donor coalitions across climate adaptation and nature, education, health and financial inclusion. She brings over a decade of experience in development finance, humanitarian and multilateral institutions, including blended finance work at the EBRD and the design of an innovative financing fund at the Norwegian Refugee Council.