Meet our Team

Lena-Katharina Gerdes, Program Manager

Lena-Katharina Gerdes is the Program Manager at SIFI. In her role, she oversees the association's diverse grant and investment portfolio, as well as being responsible for the monitoring and impact evaluation.

Before joining SIFI, Lena-Katharina founded Xinfinity GmbH, a decarbonisation and innovation consultancy, after having led the Sustainable Finance & Business Model Transformation function at Eraneos Switzerland. Prior, she worked at Commerzbank London, where she supported the build-up of the equity research function focusing on German small & mid-caps.

Lena-Katharina also gained research experience at the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College London, where she currently holds an Honorary Practice Associate position. Her research work includes publications with the International Energy Agency on Energy and Infrastructure Investing and the development of the Sustainable Innovation Pathways framework. She holds a BA in International Relations & Economics from the University of Reading and a MSc in Economics & Strategy for Business from Imperial College London.

Catherine Bukhal, Partnership Lead

Catherine's role as Partnership Lead at SIFI involves managing and nurturing relationships with funders - both existing and potential.

Catherine Bukhal has nine years of cross-cutting experience in engaging with bilateral donors, the EU, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and country offices across different organizations. In the International Trade Center, she supported development of project proposals in Eastern Europe and Caucasus and budget monitoring of cocoa projects in Fiji. In EBRD, she led analytical products and reports on technical assistance and blended finance for donors and the Board. She also delivered on the day-to-day financial management and portfolio monitoring of the European Western Balkans Joint Fund.

Before joining SIFI, she worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council, where she engaged in humanitarian financing advocacy efforts and designed the structure of the NRC’s Capital Fund, an innovative financing vehicle for making humanitarian operations more sustainable.

Emma Lawson-De Roeck, Business Manager

As Business Manager at SIFI, Emma supports operational excellence and advances best practices in Impact Monitoring and Measurement.

Bringing over a decade of experience in operations and finance-led fundraising requirements and program management, Emma has worked across diverse sectors such as gender equality, climate, and health. Most recently at the International Finance Corporation, she was a key consultant for a new strategic cycle of a global investment climate advisory fund supported by 13 multilateral donors. Emma designed and maintained data models to assess eligibility, monitor progress and manage metrics across a portfolio of over 100 projects, optimizing funding with strategic priorities in emerging markets. Her work involved coordinating financial reporting, enhancing gender and climate activity, and ex ante results measurement to support a portfolio expected to facilitate significant private sector investments.

Emma's experience in compliance and strategic engagement with project teams also spans NGO, UN and start up environments. She holds an MSc in Innovation, Human Development, and Sustainability from the University of Geneva, and has fluency in English and French, as well as international experience in Dakar and Beijing.

Benjamin Vermont, Market Development Associate

As Market Development Associate, Benjamin focuses on SIFI's Ecosystem Window, which supports the development of the impact investing market through research and advocacy. Prior to joining, Benjamin worked as a sustainable finance consultant at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where he researched funding models for ocean conservation, and as associate project manager at the Geneva Impact Investing Association (GIIA). He holds a B.A in Political Science from the University of Lausanne (UNIL), an M.A in International and Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute, and is fluent in French, English, and German.

Salma Badr Alaoui, Program Specialist

Salma is the Program Specialist. In her role, she focuses on supporting the innovators and investees of SIFI’s portfolio towards success, coordinating day to day portfolio monitoring alongside the Program Manager.

Salma has over 5 years of experience in impact and development finance as well as venture philanthropy. Prior to joining SIFI, she worked at Kois where she designed, structured and managed blended and impact finance programs in the health, gender, education and employment sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. In her previous role, Salma has managed a portfolio of four Impact Bonds (totalling USD 18M+) involving public donors, DFIs, UN organisations, private foundations and investors and supported over 20 impact or blended finance projects in emerging markets at different stages of maturity from early concept design to structuring and launch. Salma holds a double master’s degree in business administration and law and is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

The Board

Josien Sluijs, Independent Executive President

Josien Sluijs is Managing Director of Aqua for All. With a background in financial services, she has been active in the field of inclusive finance for over 20 years, working with financial institutions, SMEs and NGOs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. These have included the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other stakeholders such as UN organisations, multilaterals, DFIs, World Bank Group, international NGOs and foundations. She has represented the Dutch financial inclusion sector for many years, so knows the relevant international players well.

At Aqua for All, she has transformed the organization into one that embraces a market oriented approach and incentivizes investors to be able to broaden their portfolios and take higher risks. She has steered the organization in designing (early stage) instruments such as first loss, guarantees, and incentive instruments to catalyze private capital.

In 2021, she became a Supervisory Board member of Incofin Investment Management in Antwerp (AuM USD 1.2 billion).

Patrick Nussbaumer, Board Member

Patrick is the Strategic Partnerships Director at UBS Optimus Foundation since July 2024. He brings extensive experience in private sector development and impact finance, particularly in frontier markets. In his role, he is responsible for developing and nurturing collaborations to co-create impactful programs, mobilize expertise and resources, and deploy innovative instruments aimed at scaling solutions and maximizing impact.

Throughout his career, Patrick has worked in academia and across both private and public sectors, gaining over 20 years of experience in addressing contemporary challenges, with a focus on climate change, mission-driven companies, and startup acceleration. Before joining the Foundation, he held positions at the United Nations, where he designed and implemented flagship interventions.

Patrick holds a degree in engineering, complemented by a PhD in environmental sciences. He is fluent in English, French, and Spanish, and his work is widely published, with more than 20 peer-reviewed articles to his name.

Lennart Duschinger, Board Member

Lennart Duschinger is the Head of Sustainable Finance at the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance, where he leads the development and execution of the country’s sustainable and impact finance strategy. In this role, he advises the Minister of Finance, oversees national and international initiatives in sustainable finance and works closely with public, private, and multilateral partners to position Luxembourg as a leading global hub for sustainable capital. Amongst others, he set up and chaired the International Climate Finance Accelerator (ICFA), served on the boards of the Luxembourg Earth Impact Fund (LEIF) and the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI), and co-chaired the Sovereign Sustainability Bond Committee responsible for Luxembourg’s sustainability bond framework. He also represented Luxembourg internationally as a board member and advisor to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and as a member of the European Commission’s Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance.

Before joining civil service, Lennart worked in the private sector. As impact finance consultant at Innpact, he worked in impact measurement and management and established Innpact Fund Management, a fully regulated AIFM. His earlier professional experience includes serving as COO of a private wealth management firm, as well as working at a family office as a portfolio manager for ultra-high-net-worth clients managing multi-asset portfolios across traditional and alternative investments.

Dong Sung Seo, Board Member

Dong Sung Seo is a Director, Private Sector Engagement Team at KOICA, where he leads partnerships with private-sector enterprises and investment funds and supports the growth of social enterprises and entrepreneurs. Dong Sung is an international development professional with more than 18 years of experience, he has worked across Asia, the Middle East and Africa in roles spanning country leadership, humanitarian–development–peace programming and organisational strategy. Before taking up his current position, he served as Director of KOICA’s Southeast Asia Team, overseeing signature programmes on migration. His extensive field leadership includes appointments as Country Director in Jordan and Côte d’Ivoire, managing multi-country portfolios covering Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Burkina Faso and Niger. In these roles, he carried forward major grant arrangements with UNDP, UNICEF, UNEP, IOM, ICRC, UNFPA and ITC, and supervised initiatives in education, climate resilience, water security, governance, social cohesion and economic opportunity.

At KOICA Headquarters, Dong Sung has directed innovation programmes with leading Korean corporations, managed humanitarian funds and multilateral cooperation, and led organisational strategy and KPI frameworks. Earlier, he served in the Philippines and Iraq, contributing to rural development and disaster-response efforts. He holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Seoul, is a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner, and has been twice commended by Korea’s Foreign Minister for contributions to diplomatic and humanitarian operations.