Building Sustainable and Scalable Investments in Education and Skills Development

A Fishbowl Discussion at Building Bridges 2026

This high-level dialogue, organised by the Foundation for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) at the Building Bridges conference 2026, invites leaders from business, finance, philanthropy, and the public sector to discuss innovative finance solutions that drive systemic investments and impact for education and skills development. The discussion will draw on a philanthropy guarantee partnership between Jacobs Foundation, the International Finance Facility for Education, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, GPE, and the Foundation for GPE to unlock financing and explore new approaches of how public-private-philanthropic partnerships achieve evidence-based, systemic impact and financing at scale.

For more information, visit the official event website here.

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Speakers

• Christian Frutiger, Vice-Director General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
• Simon Sommer, Co-CEO, Jacobs Foundation
• Karthik Krishnan, CEO, International Finance Facility for Education
• Martina Gaus, Head Regional Programs & Impact Transparency, UBS Optimus Foundation
• Padraig Power, Chief Finance Officer, Global Partnership for Education (GPE)

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