About MIGHTi

The Mission to Improve Global Health Through Innovation (MIGHTi) is a new, women-run international 501(c)3 non-profit organization seeking to improve global health, promote social justice, and protect our finite environmental resources while empowering people with innovative skills that support personal and community sovereignty.

Building on years of work in Zambia and across the continent, we are currently ramping up work on our new Rural Women’s Innovation Hub.

2008

MIGHTi co-founder, Valerie Stull, made her first research trip to Zambia and Kenya with a focus on food security, climate change, and gender. Brittney Sly followed suit and began working in Rwanda in 2013. Both women saw project opportunities with community benefits—but more importantly, both realized the importance of listening first and the genuine power of collaboration.

2014

MIGHTi was founded as a collaborative research project focused on investigating the social, environmental, and health implications of insect agriculture as an alternative protein source. After placing second in the Howard Buffet funded Agriculture Innovation Prize and first in the Climate Quest competition, raising funds for a series of interdisciplinary research projects which have since been published. Mwansa Mwatokwani came on board as a research partner from the University of Zambia.

2022

MIGHTi broadened its focus and shifted gears toward more applied, passion-driven work. MIGHTi is now registered as a nonprofit organization in the USA and Zambia. Our aim is to build on the expertise, research, and experience of the team to generate tangible, positive change in our partner communities. To do so, we expanded our mission to focus on innovation at the intersection of health and the environment.

We currently operate in the United States, Zambia, and Rwanda.

Zambia and Rwanda
Wisconsin

With more than 35 years of collective work experience in numerous African contexts below the Sahara, MIGHTi is equipped to tackle salient local challenges using collaborative problem-solving.

Rural women in Zambia, and across the African continent, are perhaps the most marginalized group in the country. Despite extensive knowledge, agricultural and caregiving skills, and a wealth of untapped potential, rural women are often excluded from agriculture and economic decision making, are frequently unable to finish school, and face steep challenges simply feeding their families. Add climate change on top of these issues and both hunger and despair can compound.

At MIGHTi, we are committed to changing the calculus by combining training with opportunities for women to explore, develop, learn, test, tinker, and experiment with others in a safe environment. 

Our Motivation

Our mission is to improve health and wellbeing through innovation, collaboration, and environmental stewardship.

We work with communities to enhance skills, building on a treasure trove of traditional knowledge, scientific grounding, and progressive ideas to co-develop solutions to our complex modern challenges, enrich lives, and protect the planet.

Our approach

MIGHTi uses a four-pronged approach to foster innovation and imagination:

  • We offer culturally appropriate, evidence-based skills training in entrepreneurship, agriculture, nutrition, technology, and design through workshops and short courses.

  • We provide tools, resources, and a safe physical space for people to share ideas, find joy, and take innovative risks together.

  • We promote regenerative and climate resilient agriculture, sustainable design, and creativity using low-carbon strategies to promote healthy people and a healthy planet. We draw from traditional methods and cutting edge, but feasible technologies.

  • We monitor, evaluate, and assess all of our work, while also tracking the best available data and practices to inform our projects. We publish and share findings to promote transparent and collective development practices.

Meet our team

Mwansa Matokwani (MA, BS) 

Zambia Director

Mwansa is a social and environmental scientist as well as a certified environmental and social safeguard specialist. She has over seven years work experience in women’s empowerment activities such as eco-skills training, eco-education, waste management and climate resilient agriculture. Her passion is to create safe spaces for women to explore their potential through capacity building and to help them create green business through the sustainable use of natural resources, waste materials from industries in their communities and simple technology.

Mwansa is also a mother, a women's rights and environmental activist, and a movie lover (Avengers!) who enjoys wildlife game drives and cooking with insects.

Valerie Stull (PhD, MPH)

Executive Director, President, Co-Founder

Valerie is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, former Fulbright scholar, and global health professional with more than twelve years of international experience researching and implementing projects to improve wellbeing. Her focal areas include climate-smart agriculture, food security, food sovereignty, nutrition, gender equity, and cross-cultural partnerships. She is passionate about sustainably improving human health and social justice while optimizing co-benefits from mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Outside of work, Valerie moonlights as an amateur poet, enjoys hiking, music, cooking with insects, and spending time with family.

Brittney Sly (PhD, MPH, RDN) 

Vice President, Co-Founder

Brittney is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a specialty in nutrition education, counseling, and management. Her passion for development work comes from her experience teaching nutrition within low resource communities and seeing the disparities that contribute to poor health and livelihoods, particularly for women.

Personally, Brittney is a mother, mountain climber, gardener, foodie, reader of everything and traveler to everywhere. 

Anne Kozil (MS, RDN)

Development Coordinator, US Board Member

Anne is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a passion for helping people confront complex health issues through nutrition. Anne works as a nutrition counselor and an Extension Specialist in Nutrition with Colorado State University. She has a background in clinical dietetics and holds a Masters Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition.

Anne is a mom of two amazing humans, lover of live music, nutrition science nerd, and tree hugger.

Mwangala Ireen Mwalukanga (BA)

Treasurer and Zambia Board Member

Mwangala is a financial expert and education facilitator with over eight years of combined experience in cash management, credit advisory roles and University Tutoring. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a specialization in Development and communication from the University of Zambia. Mwangala also has research experience, working with rural communities across Zambia. She is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of others. Currently, she is in her final stage of pursuing her master’s degree in Business Administration at the Copperbelt University. She is motivated, results oriented, and has a passion for volunteerism. In her free time, Mwangala enjoys fellowship, listening to music, and playing with her son.

Technical Advisors

  • Anna Snider (PhD)

    Researcher at AgReach, University of Illinois. Expert in gender analysis, agriculture, and development.

  • Tiffany Weir (PhD)

    Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State University.

  • Megan Parker (PhD)

    Nutritional Epidemiologist and Senior Program Officer at PATH.

  • Taonga Chirwa (PhD)

    Nutritionist and Lecturer at the University of Zambia.

  • Serah Kivuti (MA)

    Doctoral researcher in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

  • Cynthia Hirsch (JD)

    Former Assistant Attorney General, litigator, and instructor for 35 years. Faculty for Lawyers Without Borders in Tanzania, Kenya, Thailand, and Liberia since 2016.

  • Pearly Wong (MSc, MA)

    Doctoral researcher in Cultural Anthropology and Environment and Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Other Supporters

Volunteers

  • Stefanny Quintero Web Designer

  • Martin Venture (MS) Entomologist 

Former Affiliates

  • Lexi Luong - Student researcher

  • Isabelle Chaney - Intern

  • Gaby Umba - Undergraduate research assistant

  • Marjorie Kersten - Undergraduate research assistant

  • Xioaxuan Lin - Undergraduate research assistant

  • Colleen Henegan - Graduate Student Researcher

  • Alisad Banda - Zambia Project Coordinator

  • Madysen Palmer - Former Social Media Volunteer

  • Lauren Erazmus - Former SDG analysis Volunteer

  • George Halverson - Training Volunteer

MIGHTi Collaborators

University of Wisconsin
Maluwa Foundation
Colorado State University
University of Zambia
Kidlinks Small Farm Incubator