Catherine Atieno is a Senior Manager in the Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Practice at MSC, where she leads GEDSI work across Africa. She is a market systems and inclusion specialist with over a decade of experience advancing women’s economic empowerment, youth inclusion, and inclusive growth across East Africa.

At the core of Catherine’s work is a commitment to advancing approaches that treat inclusion not as a compliance requirement, but as a strategic advantage that strengthens markets, institutions, and development outcomes. Her work sits at the intersection of financial inclusion, digital systems, agricultural livelihoods, and climate-related economic transitions, where she applies gendered market systems thinking and human-centered design to improve women’s access to income, finance, and productive opportunities.
Catherine has led and contributed to regional and country-level assignments across Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and the wider East African region, with experience extending into Southern and West Africa. In addition to program design and delivery, she contributes to applied thought leadership through policy engagement, public dialogue, and research focused on economic inclusion, access to capital, and resilience.