Justin Wimpey: Creator of the Cocotte Minute Gasy and SOSA winner

Justin has created a personal career built on a love of problem solving and social entrepreneurship. At each post, he jumps into the challenge of making his new home and finding his new project. Whether that's boat building, catering or invention, he's discovered a new story, a new identity in each new place. In this episode, Justin and I talk about how he finds his new adventures and the way food has been a theme throughout his life. In 2022, Justin was awarded the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad for a project that brought Malagasy sensibilities and production techniques together with efficient pressure cooker technology to reduce fuel use and cooking time.

Biography:
Justin Wimpey has traveled the world, trailing his spouse, a US Foreign Service Officer. He is an engineer with over two decades of experience with renewable energy, mechanical and industrial design, and project management. Currently, he resides in Arlington, VA and is the Executive Director for a 501c3 non-profit the BeLocal Group, which leverages global knowledge to solve local problems.Recently he was posted in Madagascar. Recognizing that 97% of Madagascar’s population uses charcoal for cooking, Justin sought a better solution which would not only be technologically feasible but highly affordable, produced locally, and culturally accepted. Starting from the traditional Malagasy pot design, he created a pressure cooker which he offered without compensation to a local metalworker and foundry. He also improved the manufacturing process and helped establish a women-led business to market and distribute the pots across Madagascar. The “Cocotte Minute Gasy” is rapidly gaining in popularity as it reduces charcoal use and therefore deforestation, and saves mainly women from spending many hours every day exposed to the health-damaging fumes of charcoal fires.You can read more about the project, and support it here:https://www.belocalgrp.com/cmg