Yaidi Cancel Martinez

Education

PhD Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019)
MS Environmental Planning and Management, Johns Hopkins University (2011)
BS Environmental Engineering, Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico (2009)

Biography

Yaidi is an educator, researcher, and inclusive connector in the Milwaukee community for people of all abilities. She is currently a part-time instructor in the Department of Urban Planning and has served SARUP in various roles since 2020. Yaidi also serves at GiGi’s Playhouse Milwaukee supporting families of individuals with Down syndrome and other disabilities.

Before her current roles, Yaidi contributed to research on housing affordability and access to employment. She also contributed to housing policy research at the Wisconsin Policy Forum and Community Advocates’ Public Policy Institute. She also worked on national environmental policy on motor vehicles at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, before pursuing her doctorate in urban planning.

Yaidi is interested in expanding her work at the intersection of urban planning, disability rights, and public health. Yaidi was born and raised in Puerto Rico and has called Milwaukee home since 2015.