Donate to keep Caitlin Cavanagh on the Lansing Board of Education

Hi, I'm Caitlin Cavanagh!

 

I was appointed to the Lansing Board of Education in April 2022 to fill a vacancy, and I am running to maintain the seat in November 2022.

 

For the past several months of my appointment period on the Lansing Board of Education, I am proud of what we have accomplished. However, I am eager to earn the support of Lansing voters to continue this good work.

 

I’ve never run for election before, and I’m facing a field of 5 other candidates, so I need your help. I want to make sure Lansing families know who I am and what I stand for so that they can make an informed voting decision. Your donation will help me reach as many Lansing families as possible so that we can start a dialogue. I want to hear from community members about their goals for the district, and I want the community to learn how I can realize those goals.

 

In my professional life, I am an Associate Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Education in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. I am also the Director of the Adolescent Development and the Justice System Research Laboratory, a Core Member of the MSU Youth Equity Project, and the Research Advisor to the Ingham County 30th Circuit Court- Family Division.

 

While working as an assistant to a Member of Parliament in the European Union Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, I learned how high-quality research can affect public policy to improve the lives of marginalized families. This is why I chose to earn a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology with specializations in Law and Quantitative Methods.

 

Currently, I research how children grow and change into productive adults, and how that development is impacted by justice system involvement. My research addresses how to make youth-serving systems (e.g., the juvenile justice system; the child welfare system; the education system) more effective, equitable, and supportive of youths' developmental needs. My goal is to harness research evidence to guide resources toward programs that are most likely to be effective in improving youths’ lives.

 

I care deeply about Lansing, and I know that the key to a thriving city is a strong education system. I believe I have the right set of skills to meet the needs of the moment and to help Lansing students succeed.