Dent Scholarships: Supporting Those Denting the Future

Help a Denter, please contribute to our scholarship fund. You can click to donate $100, $250, $500, or $1,000.

You can help support those making a dent in the future through the Dent Scholarship Program. We established the Dent Scholarship Program to sponsor the participation of new and interesting people who should join us at our annual flagship conference, but for whom the event cost is prohibitive. Funded by generous Dent community members, the Dent Scholarship Program grants a limited number of scholarships to remarkable people every year.

At its annual conference and throughout the year, Dent brings together a community of extraordinary people who share a common desire to put a “dent in the universe.” More than just a conference, Dent inspires personal and professional growth through shared experiences among attendees who likely would not meet otherwise.

Dent’s diverse mix of attendees – from actors to astronauts, executives to scientists, non-profit managers to venture capitalists, and more – collaborate and ideate in uniquely stimulating circumstances.

Since 2016, Dent has awarded 24 scholarships. Recipients have included students, aspiring entrepreneurs and nonprofit professionals. Our goal this year is to grant multiple scholarships, valued at $3500 each, to attend Dent, March 22-25, 2020 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Here are a select few of our scholarship recipients:

Scholarship Recipient Jessica — **Jessica Aisly Artiles** is the founder and principal of DARTE Design, where she translates her background in engineering, design, and education to solve people-centric problems in complex systems like schools, startup incubators and banks. She gives clients the power of design for better and faster outcomes. She is co-founder (with her fiancé Morris Vanegas) of The Second L, which designs for community-based transformation and growth for young professionals. Jessoca conducted sustainability and energy research while earning her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (with a focus on sustainability) and a minor in energy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While earning her dual master’s in engineering from MIT, she invented design approaches that enable non-designers to apply design thinking to solving complex, human-centric problems. She believes reflection — reframing past experiences as opportunities for self learning and growth are key to unlocking “who you are, your soul purpose, and how to be most successful,” with the greatest impact. Jessica is an El Mundo Boston Latino 30 under 30.

**Wendy Bird** is founder of Pearls With Purpose, a social impact organization that brings long term self-reliance to women in developing countries. In 2002, when a woman in the Philippines went into the squatters area to distribute her ‘extra’ weekly income, she learned that a woman was poisoning herself and her two children because her husband left her weeks earlier and had no ability to support her family. At the same time, Wendy was the mother of five children ages 1 to 12 and looking for a hobby. When she inquired about importing loose pearls, she learned that, “if you import finished pieces of jewelry from women in my country rather than loose pearls, you will change their lives.” That inspired Wendy to make a difference. PWP began in the squatters area of Antipolo City, Philippines and expanded into Ban Nam Kem, Thailand- Barathapurham, India and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Hundreds of women have become aware of their own self-reliance through micro-enterprise training. She knew that women in dire circumstances needed a hand-up, not a hand-out and that long term self-reliance was the solution for breaking the cycle of poverty. Each piece of jewelry is handcrafted with love and hope by various artisans in the Philippines, India and Cambodia.

scholarship recipient morris — A dreamer born in South Central Los Angeles to a Salvadoran parents, **Morris Vanegas** is a translational technologist who dabbled in space, digital fabrication and art before adopting an academic specialty in biomedical imaging. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex at Northeastern University and director of TDC Makerspace at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As a Ph.D. candidate, he is heading a NIH-funded project to develop an advanced optical brain imaging system to monitor stroke recovery. He is designing and developing mobile-based medical devices and software to monitor temperature, breathing rate, blood pressure, and blood saturation non-invasively, and a combined optical and x-ray breast imaging machine. Morris is co-founder (with his fiancé Jessica Aisly Artiles) of The Second L, which designs for community-based transformation and growth for young professionals. He holds a master’s in mechanical engineering, medical device design and a master’s in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, human space exploration from MIT. He holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering with information technology. Morris is an El Mundo Boston Latino 30 under 30.

Scholarship Recipient Olivia — **Olivia Komahcheet** is a live performance artist, screen printer, independent musician, songwriter, and nationally acclaimed professional Native actor who travels globally as a performer and speaker. A member of the Comanche Nation of Southwest Oklahoma, Olivia began playing piano and learning songs by ear at age 5. Starting with the viola, she quickly learned to play the cello, violin, acoustic guitar, drums and Native American flute as well. In 2018, Olivia performed in the 3rd annual Young Native Storyteller Festival (and Showcase), hosted by Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). Olivia was a youth ambassador with the Center for Native American Youth and a leader with I Am a Native Drug Free Nation (IAMNDN), which encourages healthy living and discourages substance abuse. She attended the 29th Annual United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) conference in Washington D.C. UNITY is the nation’s oldest and largest Native American and Alaska Native youth organization.

scholarship recipient heather — Denver, Colorado-based **Heather MacKenzie** is an internationally acclaimed speaker who presents compelling keynotes and workshops on a variety of topics. These include how healing childhood trauma improves professional and personal relationships, why funding females is good for everyone, how to build inclusive cultures and the importance of tending to founder mental health. In addition to speaking, Heather is co-founder and CEO of Conduit Accel, which connects the dots for founders, investors and ecosystems around the world via its hyper accelerator and global networks, and a consultant with 25+ years of experience as a former healthcare executive. She helps high-growth impact-driven organizations, startups and entrepreneurs develop growth strategies, find their true purpose, increase market presence and build key partnerships. Her leadership experience spans strategy, sales, relationship development, management and marketing. Serving companies ranging from pre-revenue startups to industry giants, including General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Heather brings fresh perspectives to her clients’ biggest challenges.

Based in Ketchum, Idaho, Narda Pitkethly is founder and CEO of the Nardagani® Reading Program, which simplifies reading for struggling readers and ESL students. She is also a founder of Glassy Globes, hand blown glass globes that are based on the ancient art of color Feng Shui. Nardagani is based on the Japanese Hiragana coding system, which was developed hundreds of years ago. As a result of this simple method, Japan has one of the highest literacy rates in the world. In her 20s, Narda learned to read Japanese in one week and then adapted the Japanese method to English. The Nardagani Reading Program has been adopted by the Idaho State Department of Education. Prior to Nardagani, Narda was a real estate owner of Mountain Living Real Estate. Narda’s TEDx Sun Valley presentation has over 600,000 views on YouTube. She earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts, glassblowing from the University of Washington.

Here’s how you can contribute:

Help a Denter, please contribute to our scholarship fund. You can click to donate $100, $250, $500, or $1,000.