Kent has extensive work and research experience in sub-Saharan Africa, having spent 28 years prior to coming to the Institute with international NGOs such as Oxfam America, CARE, PATH, and also with the Peace Corps. His work, teaching, and research focuses on the intersections of culture, organizational behavior, monitoring and evaluation, decision making, and strategy. He specializes in understanding how power dynamics, identity politics, and structural exclusion influence organizations, public policy, philanthropy, and the relationships between public, private, and nonprofit actors. Currently, he is helping launch a nationwide living wage employer certification initiative for the United States, which brings together the private sector, public policy, unions, social movements, and nonprofits. He is co-founder of the Community Solutions Lab (CoLab), an initiative bridging academic institutions and communities in the Monterey Bay area.