Micky Wolf
Title: Director of Strategic Partnerships at Dent Education; and Co-Founder of Made@Dent
Age: 25
Micky Wolf works with some of Baltimore City’s youngest entrepreneurs at Dent Education. The nonprofit venture aims to promote equity and empowerment among local, under-resourced high schoolers through programming focused around entrepreneurship, design thinking and maker skills like 3D printing.
There, Wolf also co-founded Made@Dent, which is focused on providing products and services to meet community needs and run by the Dent team along with eight youth co-owners whom Wolf calls “the heart of our organization.” That program was especially valuable during the pandemic when Made@Dent scaled a distributed manufacturing operation that built over 30,000 face shields.
The impact Made@Dent made during the pandemic “to provide community, earnings and leadership opportunities to our youth while protecting our frontline workers,” is what has made Wolf most proud in his work so far.
With Dent, you work with potential entrepreneurs even younger than you are. What are some of the things you've learned from them?
Baltimore youth are incredibly creative, resilient and open-minded. From them, I’ve learned the power of being vulnerable, being authentic to your own truth, speaking truth to power and embracing leaving your comfort zone to learn new skills and meet new people. The way our youth create welcoming, open spaces for one another always inspires me. They're open-minded and make each other feel comfortable when meeting new people. They have taught me the power of using your voice and sharing your story. I've seen how our youth call out systemic injustices like mass incarceration and racial capitalism. They learn new skills at Dent like 3D printing and resin casting that would be difficult for anyone, yet they take on these challenges with the vigor of people who've overcome much more in their lives than a malfunctioning 3D printer.
What do you hope to teach the young people you work with at Dent?
One of my proudest moments at Dent was when a student wrote me a note that said "I don't know how to get into art college…YET!" And then over a year later, she was the first student from her school to get into MICA. I always encourage youth, and friends, to speak with "yet" as an example of how we can bring a growth mindset to everything we do. Some people have called me “Mindset Micky“ because of the way I embrace our Dent mindsets: We see problems as opportunities; We ask why; We listen deeply; We take action; We fail fast and keep learning; We start with we. By living these mindsets, I hope to be an example for how youth can put these mindsets into their lives.
You are a Baltimore area transplant. How has being here affected you as an entrepreneur?
I love Baltimore City and feel deeply connected to our community. It’s a city where people check in on who you are and consider you as a person first, not just your LinkedIn profile. Baltimore has taught me to value relationships over transactions. Furthermore, in Baltimore, I feel connected to a larger collective mission to build our entire social innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The visions each of us work to build are woven together as small pieces of a larger effort to collaboratively shape a more equitable, just and prosperous Baltimore.
What are some of the unique challenges and/or advantages of building a venture in the nonprofit space?
A big challenge of building a venture in the nonprofit space is always needing to raise money. This is especially tough because even if you're doing great work and making a solid impact, it does not always correlate with more support and ability to grow. However, a big advantage is that you get to center your impact first and foremost, as opposed to always needing to be driven by money. For the most part, we can make decisions based on our commitment to equity, our values and putting youth first.
To read about the rest of our Inno Under 25 class, click here.
