Kate Schweigart

Kate leads Rare’s Global Innovative Finance Program, designing breakthrough finance strategies to scale community-led conservation across underserved coastal areas. She is the architect behind the world’s first Small-Scale Fisheries Impact Bond and a weather-based parametric insurance product for fishers—two pioneering financial models that bring climate resilience and sustainability to the blue economy. Her work blends philanthropic, public, and private capital to unlock investment in nature-based solutions and locally led development. Kate also partners with governments and multilateral institutions to align funding with climate, biodiversity, and equity goals across the SDGs.