I’m Kathleen Dutta.
My goal is to co-create impactful solutions with your organization that center overlooked and underserved students, so you’ll no longer have to question if what you’re doing matters.
I’ve worked at every level of the education system.
No matter what level I’m at, I always feel like I could be doing more to impact the lives of students: When working with students, I saw the systemic inequities beyond my control. Yet when I worked at a state education agency, I wondered if anything I was doing was reaching the classroom and improving the lives of students.
I continue to ask myself:
Does the work I am doing matter?
Am I contributing to a more equitable and accessible education system for every student?
If you’re passionate about this work like I am, I imagine you’ve asked yourself similar questions.
My passion for collaborating to create a more equitable education system stems from both my personal and professional experience:
Coming from a long line of teachers, I used to think I’d become one too.
However, as a kid whose family moved around a lot, I saw the stark differences in our education system depending on what neighborhood I lived in. Then my sister Keara, who has down syndrome, was born when I was 10 and fundamentally shaped how I see the world. As her big sister, I saw that, while everyone is equally deserving of an education where they can learn and feel valued, some groups get left behind more often than others.
These early experiences fueled my interest in systems-level change, especially for students furthest from opportunity.
My work in education spans the school, state, national and international levels.
From earning an MA in International Education Policy at Harvard to teaching 4th grade math in Denver Public Schools, to working at an International Baccalaureate School in South Korea to serving as a legislative research analyst at a state education agency and consulting for numerous organizations and foundations. At every level of the system, I’ve observed the same pervasive challenge: students with disabilities and multilingual learners—who, together, make up a quarter of the K12 student population in the U.S.—continue to be underserved and disinvested.
I started KCD Consulting because I believe that we can create inclusive policies, strategies, and solutions that benefit all students.
