The People Behind SIFI

Meet our Team

Guillaume Bonnel, CEO

Guillaume Bonnel is the Chief Executive Officer of the SDG Impact Finance Initiative, based in Switzerland. Established in 2021, the organization aims to mobilize CHF 1 billion in private investment to help deliver the SDGs by catalyzing investment, facilitating public-private collaboration, and building a thriving ecosystem to deliver measurable, sustainable impact in developing countries at scale. 

Guillaume has dedicated his professional life to the sustainable and impact investing space. Prior to joining the Initiative, Guillaume led the Sustainable and Impact Solutions team at Credit Suisse, designed and managed impact investment funds at Lombard Odier, and audited microfinance institutions for an asset manager dedicated to financial inclusion. 

Guillaume began his career completing missions in developing countries, including Nicaragua and Mexico, before establishing and managing a range of sustainable and impact products at BNP Paribas Wealth Management. He later joined Médecins Sans Frontières in Cameroon for a one-year humanitarian mission, to lead the finance and HR department, and ran different health-related projects.

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, Intern

Benjamin joins SIFI as an intern, bringing a strong background in political science and economics. 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.

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).

Jennifer de Nijs, Board Member

Jennifer de Nijs has dedicated significant years to sustainable finance, most notably through her 8-year tenure as the lead for Sustainable Finance at the Ministry of Finance Luxembourg. Her efforts have contributed to the growth of sustainable finance in Luxembourg and beyond, with an initial emphasis on climate, and now also integrating social aspects like gender finance.

Jennifer has played a key role in the establishment of a number of Luxembourg based initiatives, notably: the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI), which she helped set up and is now board President; the International Climate Finance Accelerator (ICFA) whose board she chaired in its foundational phase, the Luxembourg-EIB Climate Finance Platform (LCFP), and the Luxembourg Gender Finance Task Force, which she launched and chairs. Furthermore, she holds key strategic positions as a board member of LuxDev and presides over the board of the Luxembourg Earth Impact Fund (LEIF).

On the international front, Jennifer represents Luxembourg's vision for sustainable finance and actively seeks collaborative opportunities given the global nature of sustainable finance. Some of her notable international positions include the Green Climate Fund, serving as an alternate board member; the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, representing Luxembourg as its Sherpa; and the EU Member State Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, actively contributing as a member.

Previous to her government position, Jennifer worked in civil society organisations including Caritas Luxembourg and the European Youth Forum, and in the private sector at Clearstream and American Express.

Maya Ziswiler, Board Member

Maya Ziswiler was appointed CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation in 2022. The Foundation leverages philanthropic capital to help unlock more private and public funding to build an impact economy.

Ms. Ziswiler has been with the UBS Optimus Foundation since 2012 and during this time has made significant contributions to the Foundation’s leading reputation in social finance and collective philanthropy, in education, health, child protection and the environment. This includes spearheading the successful launch of the first Development Impact Bond, the first global blended finance fund investing in outcomes contracts as well as launching and growing the foundation’s social investment portfolio – and the first to create a successful Social Finance function within a financial institution.

Prior to joining the UBS Optimus Foundation, Ms. Ziswiler was responsible for managing private sector partnerships at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria globally and UNICEF in Peru. Before that, she held various marketing and commercial roles at Procter and Gamble's in markets such as Iran and Tunisia, and Peugeot in China.

She has two children, loves hiking, skiing and is passionate about learning new languages. She speaks French, English, Spanish, German and some Mandarin Chinese. Maya is living her passion, uncovering solutions that can help all children survive and thrive in the best possible environment.