Wayne Elsey

Career

In high school, Elsey struggled with his self-image and worth, and attributes his 11th grade teacher Mrs. Bush for helping him through a suicide attempt. He cites this as a life-changing moment.

Elsey started working in the footwear industry at 15 as stock boy for GallenKamp Shoes in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He worked full-time at the Gallenkamp shoe store in Fredericksburg before graduating from Stafford Senior High School in 1983. At 20, Elsey began employment at Stride Rite Corporation, working his way into various executive positions, including serving as the youngest regional vice president of Stride Rite at 25. By age 25, Elsey was regional vice president of a national chain of shoe stores.

From 1999 to June 2, 2004, Elsey worked for FSI as President/CEO and an equity partner. FSI grew over 400 percent during Elsey's tenure. Elsey managed growth and development in the occupational footwear market with the Nautilus, Skidbuster, Third Watch, and Avenger brands. In 2000, Elsey was promoted to CEO/president of the Nautilus Footwear company. Prior to Nautilus, Elsey held senior positions at EJ Footwear, LLC (formerly known as the Endicott Johnson Corporation), Iron Age, Lake of the Woods and Stride Rite Corporation.

In 2004, Elsey got inspired to start Soles4Souls while watching a news on television about massive waves ashore at the coast of Sumatra in which almost 250,000 people lost their lives. He saw an opportunity to change the lives of survivors by creating micro businesses for them. From this idea, he created Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that would send 250,000 shoes to recovering communities struck by the calamities. Elsey used his contacts in the industry and was able to successfully donate shoes to the affected areas in the Southeast Asia and the Gulf Coast. The organization quickly gained popularity and was named among one of the fastest growing fastest-growing charities.

On March 9, 2005, Elsey was named President of Kodiak-Terra USA Inc. On April 16, 2007, he stepped down from his post as president of Kodiak-Terra USA Inc. to devote time to Soles4Souls Inc. Soles4Souls had the mission of changing the world one pair at a time. In 2008, Elsey completed his book Almost Isn’t Good Enough which encompasses his experience and thoughts on nonprofits and impacting the world for the people who are in need. The book outlines several key elements that calls readers to act on the good rather than thinking, waiting and planning.

Elsey has since left Soles4Souls and has started a full-service branding and marketing company, Elsey Enterprises. He fulfills speaking engagements detailing his story and strategies. He founded SocialGoodU, an online education for the nonprofit community, and has traveled for charitable causes.

In April 2013, Elsey founded Funds2Orgs, a social enterprise geared at helping nonprofits, schools, churches, and civic groups fundraise while impacting micro-enterprises in developing nations and the environment. In 2016 Elsey Enterprises acquired Shoes With Heart, Southern California's leading shoe drive fundraising business.

Philanthropy

Before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Elsey wasn't involved with any charities on a regular basis. According to Elsey, he considered monetary donations to organizations to be sufficient and "concentrated 100% on 'making the deal' happen in the for-profit world." Elsey says that he got the idea for his charity, Soles4Souls, when watching footage of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. He writes in his biography, "I was sitting on my couch watching the news reports replay the giant waves rippling through the towns, and I felt sick to my stomach. Then I saw an image of a single shoe, stranded on a decimated beach." Elsey and colleagues gathered over 250,000 pairs of new shoes to give to people involved in the tsunami areas. The next year when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States, Elsey raised nearly one million pairs of shoes.

Elsey went on to found Soles4Souls a year later, formally incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charity organization in 2005. As the founder and CEO of Soles4Souls, Elsey oversaw the donation of over 19 million pairs of shoes since its inception.

On April 3, 2011, Elsey announced he was expanding the Soles4Souls brand with the addition of Hope4Souls. According to the charity's website, "Hope4Souls will be a general product division of Soles4Souls, providing various supplies like medical materials, toys, non-perishable food and other provisions to individuals and organizations in need." Hope4Souls is the second division related to Soles4Souls that was created, along with the apparel division called Clothes4Souls that was launched in 2010. Clothes4Souls focused on collecting used and new clothes by creating campaigns that drive manufacturers and the general public to donate used clothes. Elsey later included designers, brands and retail partners, including Converse, American Apparel, New Balance and others to encourage larger donations of clothes by the general public and create awareness about his new clothes division. Later in 2011, Elsey purchased the larger distribution center in Wadley, Alabama that can accommodate and handle increasing shoe donations, he also announced new hires to further develop his organization in non-endemic markets and work on developing micro-business over there.

Elsey launched Funds2Orgs, a solution for nonprofits, churches, and schools in 2013. This for-profit social enterprise helps nonprofit organizations achieve financial sustainability through shoe drive fundraisers and other fundraising events. The organization seeks to eliminate shoes, clothing, and purses from being discarded in landfills by repurposing them in developing nations within the secondary markets.

Elsey ranked #193 on the 2017 Philanthropists & Social Entrepreneurs TOP 200 list in March 2017. He is a contributor to Forbes.com and was accepted into the Forbes Business Development Council in September 2017.

Awards

The New York charity Kids In Distressed Situations (K.I.D.S) awarded Wayne Elsey the Humanitarian of the Year award for his partnership and support of the organization in 2010.

Elsey received the 2010 Philanthropist of the Year award in New York City at the 24th annual Footwear News Achievement Awards (FNAA) for his charity work with the organization Soles4Souls.