Kent Mitchell is SRCD’s Director for Policy and brings more than 25 years of experience working with communities to improve child, youth, and family outcomes. His work spans advancing evidence-based public policies, designing, and funding social innovations, and implementing equity-driven practices in partnership with community leaders. His career includes roles in Congress, with AmeriCorps, in state policy leadership, and in philanthropic strategy.
Most recently, Kent served as Vice President of Strategy and Innovation for Lutheran Services in America, a national network of 300 nonprofits, where he led innovation collaboratives on child welfare, affordable housing, and refugee resettlement. His public policy and advocacy experience includes leading 50-state government affairs for the National Head Start Association; stewarding a successful grassroots pre-K campaign in Indiana; and launching bipartisan issue campaigns at the Pew Charitable Trusts, including to improve children’s access to dental care. Earlier in his career, he worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, advancing the Senator’s disability policy agenda and adopting the Senator’s rights-based approach to policy.
Kent draws on his training as an organizer to analyze systems, design inclusive strategies, engage people with lived experience, and build cross-sector partnerships. He has served on two nonprofit executive teams and cultivated more than $50 million in philanthropic funding.
He holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, with a concentration in nonprofit management. He graduated from Earlham College, where he studied Political Science and Journalism.
Kent lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, with his wife and their two children.