Jump to content

Wayne Elsey

Add links
Checked
Page protected with pending changes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wayne Elsey
Born
Arlington, Virginia
OccupationCEO of Elsey Enterprises
Known forSoles4Souls
Websitewayneelsey.com

Wayne Elsey is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, social activist and author.[1] He is the founder and former CEO of Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that collects shoes from footwear companies and shoe drives.[2]

Career

[edit]

Elsey began working in the shoe industry as a teenager, initially at a local branch of GallenKamp Shoes in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Not long after graduating from Stafford Senior High School in 1983, he started working for Stride Rite, and where he became a regional vice president at the age of 25.[3][4]

From 1999 to 2004, Elsey was the president and CEO of Footwear Specialties International. Later, he managed growth and development in the occupational footwear market with Nautilus, Skidbuster, Third Watch, and Avenger.[5] He also worked at EJ Footwear LLC (formerly known as the Endicott Johnson Corporation), Iron Age and Lake of the Woods. In 2000, Elsey was promoted to CEO/president of Nautilus Footwear.[6] In March 2005, Elsey was named President of Kodiak-Terra USA Inc.[7] He left Kodiak-Terra in April 2007 to work full time on Soles4Souls.[8] As of 2007, Soles4Souls gave away around 2.5 million pairs of shoes distributed through 35 countries.[9]

In March 2012, Elsey stepped down from his position at Soles4Souls and established Elsey Enterprises, a branding and marketing firm based in Orlando, Florida.[10][11] In 2013, he founded Funds2Orgs, a social enterprise for helping nonprofit organizations raise funds.[12][13][14]

Elsey is a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine, where his articles cover topics relevant to business.[15]

Charity work

[edit]

In 2004, Elsey founded Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that sends shoes to recovering communities struck by natural disasters.[16][17] Soles4Souls became one of the USA's fastest growing charities,[18] but faced criticism over claims that a $1 donation would provide a pair of shoes to someone in need, since the used shoes they received were resold to wholesalers that then sold them to small businesses in developing countries instead of directly shipping them abroad. One shoe company donated new shoes but the charity resold them and they ended up sold in discount stores in the USA.[19][20] In 2010, Elsey expanded Soles4Souls to Clothes4Souls and in 2011, he added Hope4Souls.[21]

In 2009, the Soles4Souls' board allowed Elsey to take a series of $900,000 loans from the Changing the World Foundation, a sister charity to Soles4Souls, and refinance his Florida condos, which was ruled illegal under Tennessee law.[22][20] Elsey later repaid the money in full and refuted that he had mismanaged the funds, saying that he was safeguarding the funds during the economic downturn.[20][23][24]

In 2010, Elsey published his book Almost Isn’t Good Enough about his experience with nonprofit organizations.[25]

After leaving Soles4Souls, he started Elsey Enterprises, a branding and marketing company.[11][26] In December 2015, Elsey Enterprises acquired Shoes With Heart, a shoe drive fundraising business based in Southern California.[27] In 2016, Funds2Orgs launched Sneakers4Funds, a subsidiary that targets schools, parent–teacher association/organization groups and sports teams that can collect gently used and new athletic shoes for their fundraising campaigns.[27] In March 2018, Funds2Orgs acquired the Cash4Shooz shoe drive fundraiser for an undisclosed amount, resulting in all donated shoes being redistributed to Cash4Shooz through the Funds2Orgs network.[28][29] Funds2Orgs later established Sneakers4Good, an organization dedicated to collecting shoes and distributing them to individuals in developing countries.[30][31]

Publications

[edit]
  • Osbon, Shell (2022-06-17). It's Not Good for Leaders to Lead Alone!. Righteous Pen Publications. ISBN 978-1-940197-69-2.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2019-12-30). The Traveling Shoes. ISBN 978-0-578-61659-9.
  • Pitts, Melissa Elsey; Elsey, Wayne (2019-06-27). Tied Together. ISBN 978-0-578-48629-1.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2016). Almost isn't good enough : the human connection changes everything.
  • Elsey, Wayne; Spence, Linda N.; Reichartz, Carrie (2016-02-02). How to Dominate Your Fundraising to Create Your Success (Not Your Father's Charity Book Series). ISBN 978-0692628683.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2016-04-28). Dominate in Your School Fundraising For Success, As Easy As ABC (Not Your Father's Charity Book Series). ISBN 978-0692699355.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2015-08-06). Be Bold, Dominate and Succeed in Marketing For Today's Digital World On A Limited Budget (Not Your Father's Charity Book Series). ISBN 978-0578167824.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2015-11-24). Grip & Rip Leadership for Social Impact (Not Your Father's Charity Book Series). ISBN 978-0578173474.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2015). The Rise and Fail of Charities and what You Can Do to be Ready. ISBN 978-0-578-16754-1.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2006). "Puncture-resistant footwear: arch nemesis of the rusty nail". Occupational Health & Safety (Waco, Tex.). 75 (7): 58, 60, 62. ISSN 0362-4064. PMID 16903175. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2003). "Good foot protection revolves around common sense". Occupational Health & Safety (Waco, Tex.). 72 (9): 68–70, 72, 74, 76. ISSN 0362-4064. PMID 14528821. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  • Elsey, Wayne (2002). "Using your brain to become ergonomic-minded". Occupational Health & Safety (Waco, Tex.). 71 (4): 92. ISSN 0362-4064. PMID 11977570. Retrieved 2025-04-09.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Weilheimer, Neil (2010-06-21). "Helping Haiti". Footwear News. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  2. ^ Walter, Laura (6 February 2009). "Shoe Charity Encourages Manufacturers, Employees to Recycle Safety Footwear". EHS Today. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Dyson, Cathy (6 July 2007). "Shoes are good for soul". fredericksburg.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007.
  4. ^ Scott Williams (17 December 2010). "Win A FREE iPad – Almost Isn't Good Enough". Bigisthenewsmall.com. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  5. ^ "Ceo Resigns Footwear Specialties International". Highbeam.[dead link]
  6. ^ "USA: Wayne Elsey named CEO of Nautilus Footwear". just-style.com. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  7. ^ "Kodiak Uses Direct Mail to Gain Toehold in U.S." March 17, 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  8. ^ Kodé, Chantal (April 16, 2007). "Shoe executive steps down to focus on nonprofit work". Nashwille Business Journal. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  9. ^ "Charity finds niche where rubber meets road". NBC News. 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  10. ^ "Elsey Enterprises: Private Company Information - Bloomberg". www.Bloomberg.com. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Reisinger, Brian. "Wayne Elsey resigns from Soles4Souls". Nashville Business Journal. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  12. ^ "Shoe Drive Surpasses Goal In Fundraiser For Abbey Family". post-journal.com. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  13. ^ Rullo, David (2025-03-31). "Beth El invites the community to put its best foot forward". jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  14. ^ Johnson, Alec. "Delafield woman collects 1,000 pairs of shoes to help fund a trip to give free dental care in Guatemala". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  15. ^ "Wayne Elsey | Founder - The Funds2Orgs Group". Forbes Business Development Council. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  16. ^ "ABC News Good Morning America". ABC News. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  17. ^ O’Brien, James (March 24, 2014). "How A Former Shoe Salesman Supports Microbusiness In The Developing World". Forbes. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  18. ^ Santich, Kate. "Soles4Souls founder: 16 million pairs of shoes down, 300 million to go". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  19. ^ Smietana, Bob. "Shoes charity sells more soles than it gives away". USATODAY.COM. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  20. ^ a b c Smietana, Bob (23 March 2013). "Soles4Souls shoe charity takes steps to restore trust". USA Today. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  21. ^ "Soles4Souls now handles Clothes4Souls, too". Nashwille Business Journal. 25 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  22. ^ Hall, Heidi. "Soles4Souls bounces back after hit to reputation". The Tennessean.
  23. ^ Weilheimer, Neil (April 11, 2011). "Soles4Souls Refutes Newspaper Charges". Footwearnews.com. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  24. ^ Reisinger, Brian. "Wayne Elsey resigns from Soles4Souls". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  25. ^ Almost isn't good enough: The human connection changes everything. OCLC 789686003 – via Worldcat book datebase.
  26. ^ Dan Duffy. "68 Hours in Haiti, Part 6: Epilogue". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  27. ^ a b Schneider-Levy, Barbara (2016-01-20). "Funds2Orgs Shoe-Drive Group Launches Sneakers4Funds". Footwear News. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  28. ^ Te, Nhu (2018-03-30). "Funds2Orgs Acquires Cash4Shooz". NonProfit PRO. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  29. ^ "United Way's Cash4Shooz underway | Hot Springs Sentinel Record". www.hotsr.com. 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  30. ^ Jhung, Lisa (2024-12-25). "Share the Joy: Donate Your Old Shoes and Gear". Outside Online. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
  31. ^ "Sneakers 4 Good Shoe Donation". Fleet Feet Canton. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wayne_Elsey&oldid=1290303830"