Divine Mungisha key Learnings Through the Infrastructure, Climate Change and Human Mobility Design and Innovation Challenge

For Divine Mungisha, a Mastercard Foundation Scholar from Rwanda, participation in the Infrastructure, Climate Change and Human Mobility Design and Innovation Challenge was less about finding ready-made solutions and more about reshaping how she understands complex problems. Growing up as a refugee deeply influenced her interest in displacement and human mobility, and the challenge provided a space where personal experience could intersect with structured learning and exploration.

Expanding Understanding and Perspective

When Divine began the program, her knowledge of climate change was limited. She knew the crisis was real and worsening, yet her view of solutions was narrow, focused largely on environmental actions like tree planting and preventing deforestation. Through the challenge, she realized that complex problems require multiple approaches, addressing both ecosystems and human resilience, particularly for communities vulnerable to displacement. At first, she had low confidence in her ability to contribute to discussions, but training sessions, research assignments, and interactions with other teams helped her to think critically and consider diverse perspectives.

Collaboration and Innovation

Working in a team taught Divine the value of collaboration and leveraging each member’s strengths. She also learned that impactful innovation does not always require complexity. When her team’s simple solution emerged as the winning idea, she realized that practical, human-centered approaches can be powerful, even compared to more elaborate proposals. This experience reshaped her understanding of creativity, showing that thoughtful simplicity can generate meaningful change.

The Learning Journey

The challenge introduced Divine to Human-Centered Design, teaching her to design solutions with communities rather than for them. Listening, observing, and iterating became central to her approach. While the journey was intense, it helped her grow personally and professionally, refining her mindset, problem-solving abilities, and collaborative skills. The experience continues to shape her path as a future change maker, equipping her to navigate complexity and create meaningful impact.