Taught by her father and mother at an early age to value and uphold faith, family, education, and humanity in life, Mufalo Chitam is a leader, advocate, and community builder transforming Portland’s immigrant support network into a strong, inclusive resettlement system. With 30 years of experience in advocacy and community organizing, Chitam has expanded critical initiatives, including multilingual “know your rights” materials, the Maine Immigrant Resource Hub & Hotline, and enforcement-impact tracking, to help communities respond to emerging challenges.

Mufalo is civic-minded, understanding, generous, and thoughtful, and is gifted with a tremendous ability to relate across all ethnic communities no matter how different their experiences or needs may be. Under her leadership, the Maine Immigrants' Rights Coalition (MIRC) now represents more than 100 member organizations, including immigrant constituency and advocacy groups as well as direct service and grassroots community organizations, working to elevate the voices of new Mainers as they find their way and cultivate a more diverse and inclusive Maine for future generations of immigrant children to come. MIRC is one of the most successful immigrant rights organizations in Maine.

Throughout her career, Mufalo has worked in various capacities to support people to live a fulfilling and dignified life, including positions at ChildFund International, University of Southern Maine, United Way of Greater Portland, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, National Kidney Foundation, Easter Seals Maine, American Red Cross, and Granite Bay Care, and has served on various boards in Maine including currently advocating on the United States Commission on Civil Rights Maine Advisory Committee. 

An American of Zambian descent, she holds a BA in Public Administration and Library Science from the University of Zambia and serves on the boards of the National Partnership for New Americans, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's Community Development Advisory Council, and Maine's Ending Hunger and Office of New Americans Advisory Councils.  She was recently recognized as one of the 2026 Courage Project awardees and named Spurwink’s 2023 Humanitarian of the Year and Mainebiz’s 2022 Women to Watch.