Refilwe joined SEF as an intern in June 2007, became permanently employed in the Research and Development department in December 2007, and later became SEF’s Research and Development Manager. She left SEF in 2010 and took up a post with the international microfinance organisation VisionFund. Thereafter she worked as Senior Programme Manager: Impact Investing at GreaterCapital, which is based in Cape Town. In 2016 she joined the Graca Machel Trust as a consultant.