Raising Entrepreneurs

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On Tuesday, Dec. 16, the Indiana Humanities Council and the Office of the Governor honored 12 recipients of the sixth annual Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman recognized the recipients and presented them with $1,000 cash awards to use as educational scholarships or donations to charities of their choice.

Among the recipients was a young entrepreneur with a social entrepreneurial bent.

A sophomore at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, 20-year-old Daniel Kent has been active in Student Council, and he co-founded the Rufus M. Jones Institute for Leadership. He has interned at the White House and Community Development Law Center.

When he was a 14-year-old middle schooler in Carmel, Kent founded Net Literacy, a nonprofit created to increase computer access to all. He funded the organization with $4,000 he had saved to buy a car. Five years later, Net Literacy had attracted more than $1 million in grants and in-kind donations, increased computer access to more than 90,000 individuals, refurbished thousands of computers, and engaged more than 1,000 student volunteers. It has expanded into dozens of Hoosier communities and helped 90,000 Hoosiers cross the digital divide. Kent recruited U.S. Senators Bayh and Lugar to serve as honorary co-chairs, and successfully lobbied to pass Indiana’s Net Literacy Resolution.

Kent has served on local and national youth boards, including the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, America’s Promise Alliance, the U.S. Public Service Academy and Do Something, Inc. He has received numerous awards, including being twice named a National Point of Light honoree. He is donating his $1,000 award to the Net Literacy Project.