Baltimore Social Innovation Journal, Fall 2016 Fall 2016 | Page 10

Working From
the Inside Out
A self-described introvert extends herself to Baltimore youth and empowers them to earn money from their artwork.
By Lisa Simeone

Cadeatra Harvey wasn’t exactly
encouraged to be the business-savvy
self-starter she is today. Growing up, she
says, she was surrounded by a “poverty
mindset.” Though she knew her parents
and friends cared about her, she also knew
they couldn’t see what she could: Dreams.
Ambitions. Goals.
“People around me say something can’t
be done, that I’m too big a dreamer. But
I’ve always believed it can be done. You just
have to figure out how.”
Harvey is proud of having graduated from
Poly – Baltimore Polytechnic Institute – the
prestigious high school in North Baltimore
that emphasizes science, technology,
engineering, and math. Harvey excelled
there and went on to study at another
center of STEM learning, Community
College of Baltimore County at Catonsville.
She got her Associate’s degree in CADD
– computer-aided design and drafting –
and at the age of 19 began working at
an engineering firm in town. Her bosses
thought she was so good they transferred
her to their headquarters in Philadelphia,
pg. 9

where she also attended Temple University.
But within two years, her auspicious
trajectory came to a halt.
“It was the first time I experienced
structural racism,” she says. “Even though
I grew up black in Baltimore, I had had no
problems there. But at this firm in Philly, it
was all old white men. And they made it
clear they didn’t like me.”
Harvey got laid off, couldn’t afford to
continue at Temple, and moved back to
Baltimore. It was, she says, an ignominious
end.
“I used to be super-arrogant. So for me
to have to return s