Tember Cadette
YouthKonect’s Youth of the Month for February, highlights Tember Cadette; the founder and Chairman of Do Something Different. In her own words, Tember describes herself as someone whose life and purpose are defined by advocacy and business strategy. Tember shared the details of Do Something Different with us and why giving back is so important to her!
What exactly is DSD?
“Do Something Different or DSD as we say, is an entirely youth-driven non-profit organization that focuses on uplifting, empowering, and inspiring Saint Lucian students. We were founded on February 10th, 2017 and we’ve been in operation since then.”
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How did you form DSD?
“DSD was founded by a common desire to want to help other students reach their optimum firstly and secondly, to ease the financial burden that education places on families. My 3 best friends at the time and myself - Racquel, Stefy, and Anneka came together to form DSD in hopes of making a difference.”
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What made you interested in giving back?
“I've always been interested in giving back so I can't really pinpoint when it started. I just recognize that so many people struggle daily so if we can do something to help or make their lives easier then why not.”
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Have you faced any challenges with your organization and how have you managed to overcome them?
“We face challenges daily to the point where we've had to understand that it just comes with the territory. The greatest challenge to date is not giving up. Maneuvering non-profit organizations are tricky and it requires a lot of care and attention. As a team collectively, we all have other responsibilities like work and school so it can become very difficult to prioritize and manage your time.”
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Can you tell us about your support?
“The support from the public, friends, and family has been phenomenal. We wouldn't be able to do half of what we've done if it wasn't for that.”
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Tell us about your team.
“Our team is more like a family business. We all have responsibilities and we try to simulate them as much as possible so we can be effective. We have the board which I, Racquel John, and Stefy Dereitas sit on as 1st Vice-Chair and 2nd Vice-Chair respectively. We have our executive team for which Tisa Dawes is President, Katelin Samuel as Vice-President. You can check out our website (www.dsdfoundation.com) to see the full executive and put a name to the face. Also, we have DSD Canada and DSD Barbados which we're working on getting in full swing. So you can say the team is quite packed but not without purpose.”
What do you enjoy about being in DSD?
“My favorite part about DSD is its natural vibes and energy. Everything is always fun, even if it's not fun (I know that doesn't make sense but it's true). We talk about everything and it's a safe space where we just throw out ideas and see what works.”
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Anything else to add?
“Our future plans are a secret for now but mainly we want to focus on donating more e-devices than anything so that will be our focus for 2021.”
Fun Facts
Are you a movie or tv show person?
I’m more of a marvel person to be exact so you can say I like movies.
Name one place you would like to travel to.
I would absolutely love to visit Thailand.
Something you like to eat that other people find weird.
I only eat the skin of the guava and everyone judges me for it. I just don’t like the insides. We’re not supposed to eat seeds!
We wish Tember and the DSD team the best of luck for 2021 and their future! Be sure to support them, donate and follow their journey on social media (@dsd.foundation).