As a consultant and curriculum specialist, I transform how organizations approach education. I offer tailored services including strategic impact planning, educational program design, inclusive assessment development, innovative course creation, and educator professional development. By weaving together research-based practices with cultural responsiveness, I help partners create learning experiences that are both academically rigorous and personally meaningful. Whether you’re an educational institution seeking to revitalize your curriculum or an organization looking to maximize your educational impact, my interdisciplinary approach ensures that learners develop the technical skills they need to succeed and the cultural awareness necessary to thrive.
Origins
My journey into education and human development has been shaped by both personal experiences and professional aspirations. As a child of Caribbean immigrants growing up in North Jersey, I learned early to navigate between different cultural worlds. This dual consciousness fostered my ability to recognize and appreciate diverse ways of knowing—from the oral histories and community wisdom valued in my home and African-American culture to the empirical approaches privileged in Western academia. Through my K-12 educators, I inherited their passion for driving learning experiences by drawing on students’ social and cultural histories.
Academic Foundations
While pursuing my sociology degree at Bryn Mawr College, I began my education career at the Boston Debate League, where I witnessed how teaching critical thinking skills, media literacy, and history could transform students’ self-perception and academic engagement. This experience led me to pursue deeper questions about positive youth development, culminating in my M.Ed. in Learning & Design from Vanderbilt University.
Finding My Educational Voice
Working as a college and career readiness counselor in under-resourced communities reminded me of the ways classrooms that devalued student voices and create emotional labor for learners already navigating uncomfortable academic spaces. These observations, combined with my personal experiences, fueled a pivotal realization when I re-entered educational spaces as a teacher. Where once I had felt something was “off” as a student but lacked the vocabulary to articulate it, I now recognized the barriers clearly. For the first time, I also had the authority to call out and move them. This transition from student to educator profoundly shaped my commitment to designing better learning environments. I deliberately create spaces where students are able to show up for themselves by equipping with the language to name and critically analyze their experiences.
By empowering people with the lenses and vocabulary to name concerns and curiosities, I help them confront systemic barriers not as passive recipients, but as agents of change who can advocate for themselves and transform educational spaces.
My work in consulting is rooted in the belief that genuine transformation begins with expression. I empower teachers and organizations by providing frameworks and tools that help them describe the challenges they face in their unique contexts and imagine solutions to these issues. By creating safe spaces for educators and community workers to name their struggles—whether they stem from systemic constraints, resource limitations, or pedagogical uncertainties—we build the foundation for authentic growth. This process of naming and framing challenges is paired with guided reflection to help partners envision their ideal development pathways. Through collaborative workshops and individualized coaching, I help educational leaders translate their aspirations into actionable strategies that honor both immediate needs and long-term visions. By bridging the gap between current realities and future possibilities, I support communities in becoming architects of their own transformation.
Current Research
Now, as a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, I weave together multiple disciplines to explore how social identities and family systems shape social development in college-aged adults. My research interests span gender studies, social empathy development, community ecologies, and sociocultural approaches to learning. By hosting cross-disciplinary discussions on campus, I work to bridge theory and practice, creating spaces for reflective dialogue and community engagement.
Current Work
Through working with community-based organizations, academic departments, and individuals, I’ve developed what I call “kaleidoscopic brainstorming,” an approach that celebrates multiple viewpoints, creates space for innovative solutions, and requires an iterative process. This approach is highly-rated by participants and central to collaborative designing, whether I’m helping partners strategize their impact and storytelling, empower others through expertise, re-imagine learning assessments, disrupt traditional course designs, or elevate educator practices. Each service draws on my interdisciplinary background to design powerful educational experiences.
When I’m not engaged in research or teaching, I find joy in being an active member of Lansing’s Toastmasters Club and volunteering for mentorship and education initiatives around campus. To fully unwind, I turn to my mixed media projects, particularly found object art. You can also find me experimenting in the kitchen, weekending in Chicago, or attending a local comedy show.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
~ Lao Tzu
D. M. Cadet 