Kicks for a Cause: Helping the kids of LA run towards a brighter future

November 7, 2008

Kicks for a Cause is a non-profit founded by seven students at the University of Southern California driven by a desire to further diversity and empower others to affect change in the world. They bring the underground art of shoe customization to the forefront of social consciousness. Los Angeles Area high schools and Boys & Girls Clubs are given all the materials necessary to customize shoes with the mission of creating a powerful message concerning an important issue in today's world. Kicks for a Cause presents a chance for these students to speak out about what they've seen during their lives and why it should matter to society. The art of shoe customization allows them to channel their creativity in a way that benefits everyone involved. Proceeds benefit the causes chosen and their school or Boys & Girls Club in an effort to instill the value of social entrepreneurship. Check out the kids’ art work and purchase shoes at their website.

We asked Kicks for a Cause to tell us more about them and their project. Here is what the members had to say:

Help us understand what you are up to:
Kicks for a Cause brings the underground art of shoe customization to the forefront of our social consciousness. Los Angeles Area high schools and Boys & Girls Clubs are given all the materials necessary to customize kicks with the mission of creating a powerful message concerning an important issue in today's world. Whether that issue is local (gang violence, drug addiction, immigration) or global (war, global warming), each student has an opportunity to tell the world what’s important to them and why others should care. The customized sneakers are then sold with the proceeds benefitting the causes chosen and the students’ schools in an effort to instill the value of social entrepreneurship.

What drives you to continue pursuing this area of study?
We are united and driven by a desire to further diversity and empower others to affect change in the world. We see Kicks for a Cause as a fusion of these goals.

Describe how your work might impact people’s lives, now and in the future.
Kicks for a Cause works on two levels: individual and societal. On the individual level, we give students who normally don’t have a platform for their opinions a chance to have their voice heard through the vehicle of something they truly excel at – art. Eventually seeing their creation sold at the benefit of a charity they support as well as their school emphasizes the potential they have when using it in the right ways. On a societal level, we strongly believe Kicks for a Cause has an opportunity to change the pervading public view that all inner-city schools are alike. The idea that several school districts are essentially lost causes has contributed to America’s educational decline. By championing the talent, the drive and the unique voice of students in historically forgotten and/or underperforming areas, the focus can be placed back on the individual rather than the collective and challenge the way communities perceive inner-city students.

How did you come up with the idea?
We all met in spring 2008 in President Sample and Dr. Bennis’ leadership class: MDA 365 – The Art and Adventure of Leadership. A main tenet of the class is a group project designed to facilitate the practicing and observing of leadership. In the early stages of our group process, we came up with several different ideas ranging from a leadership summit to a diversity magazine to populating the Midwest with zoo animals (seriously), none of which resonated strongly. Finally, we came up with Kicks for a Cause, which was a way to envelop our shared interest in diversity and student empowerment.

Kicks for a Cause started as a class project, but we have always seen it as something more. Working with students and seeing issues they face every day translated into brilliant artwork is an amazing experience that we want to continue and an idea we believe can grow beyond the bounds of Los Angeles.

Has anyone ever doubted that your idea could work?
Not really! Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of our journey over the past five months has been the overwhelming support of everyone we’ve met along the way. Myriad individuals have been as excited (if not more excited) about Kicks for a Cause as we all are. These individuals have all been very willing to help us by offering their expertise, whether that’s enabling us to provide students with the shoes, help us teach the students how to customize shoes or aiding us in the task of selling the shoes.

What is the next step in the innovation process for you (and how might people help)?
We are looking for more people to join our team! We are starting to expand the project outside the reaches of the seven founders. We need enthusiastic people to help us go to schools, work with students, help us find sponsorships, etc. Given our desire to expand Kicks for a Cause, we are also looking for sponsorships from shoe and art supplies companies since all fundraising has been organic to this point (which is not a sustainable model). We want to continue to bring our program to students in Los Angeles as well as other locations across the country, but before we can do that we need more resources and more team members.

What mistake taught you the most? (Pertaining to Kicks for a Cause)
Amy Lin: Never fear asking for help! In the beginning of our project, it was just the seven of us scrambling around trying to get Kicks for a Cause started. We really had no idea what we were doing since we had zero personal experience in the shoe customization industry. Thankfully, we met so many knowledgeable people who were willing to help us out. In the current stage of the project, we have had over twenty people be involved with Kicks for a Cause. I can only imagine that there will be more in the future!

Peter Simones: Early in the idea formation stage, it appeared as if Kicks for a Cause would never come to be. Thankfully, we scrapped our original idea. Our struggle to find a cause that really enveloped what we wanted to do taught me that a great idea is a process, not a moment.

Koran Hardimon: Rome wasn't built in a day."  Understanding that visions are great, ambition is honorable, and drive is important, but it takes hard work, dedication, and persistence to accomplish the task at hand. 

Chris Becker: Logistical issues such as setting up meetings can eat away at time. Act as soon as possible to make more time.

Ginny Dick: The importance of adaptive capacity: keep going when the going gets tough and be flexible to updating the original project idea.  Without this, KfaC would have fallen dead very early in the game.  We had to choose what was important and what wasn't.  Thankfully, it worked.

Mike Drachovitch: Because we set the bar so high, we weren't able to accomplish everything we set out to do.  We simply did not have the time nor resources.  I quickly learned to accept our limitations and how none of our accomplishments would have been possible had we not shot for the stars.   

Nicole Landa: Making a master calendar is great for motivation, but expecting everything to turn out as planned will lead to disappointment.

What is the one innovation you can’t live without?
Amy Lin: Gmail – I admit… I’m kind of obsessed with email. I am basically on Gmail all the time. Even though I prefer phone calls over email, Gmail has helped me organize my electronic life. The colored labels, the gChats, never having to delete any emails –-Wow! What would I do without it all? So if anyone is reading this from Google, I’m up for hire! J

Peter Simones: The World Wide Web (note: NOT the Internet). I can do without the Internet - I'd rather just talk to people on the phone - but having information available almost instantaneously via the World Wide Web is a luxury I can't imagine living without.

Koran Hardimon: Direct Deposit.  I could not imagine receiving my checks through the mail and physically going into a branch every week or two to cash or deposit my checks.  God forbid!

Chris Becker: Digital photography

Ginny Dick: Text messaging.  I prefer to either talk in person or keep it to a quick text.

Mike Drachovitch: iTunes.  You can bet that my iTunes is always bumping jams whenever I'm at my desktop.  

Nicole Landa: Cell phone- will family across the country I wouldn't have been able to come here without all those calls!

What would people be surprised to learn about you? 

Amy Lin: ­­I am a huge foodie. I love trying different foods, reading reviews and blogs on restaurants and won’t even flinch at the thought of spending an abundant amount of money on a nine course dinner.

Peter Simones: I'm a classically trained pianist 13 years in the making.

Chris Becker: I just learned to ride a bike about 4 months ago.

Koran Hardimon: I am a member of Toastmasters, an organization that helps develop your oral communication skills. Also, that I participate in the music ministry at my church as one of their main directors.

Ginny Dick: I competed in the local and state science fair for six years.  My project was titled "The Application of a Clay Flocculate in Mitigating Harmful Algae Blooms and its Effects on Mitilus Edgulus."

Mike Drachovitch: I was inducted into the National College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Indiana as a Scholar-Athlete in high school.

Nicole Landa: I'm terrified of scary movies...can't watch them at all!

What do you wish you would have invented? 

Amy Lin: Facebook – The concept is so simple! I just wished I thought of it first. Then all college students can blame me for procrastination.

Peter Simones: A musical instrument (a piano if I had to choose). I find beauty to be most easily and perfectly captured in a piece of music, and to be able to say I invented the medium for that beauty - a medium that would likely be used for eternity - would be incredibly gratifying.

Koran Hardimon:  I have always wanted to learn how to play the organ.  If I would have invented the organ, I would have definitely knew how to skillfully play this amazing piece of equipment.

Chris Becker: Mechanical pencil

Ginny Dick: If it actually existed... teleportation.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there is still a chance I could invent it.

Mike Drachovitch: The jet ski.  

Nicole Landa: Netflix-- I definitely had that idea growing up as a license-less, car-less kid!

Email or phone? 

Amy Lin: Phone – Emotions can not be conveyed adequately through email

Peter Simones: Phone! E-mail sets us back as much as it brings us forward.

Koran Hardimon: Phone - I am an audile person so I like to hear people's tones and vibrations when they speak.  I can't stimulate this urge sending e-mails.

Chris Becker: Email

Ginny Dick: Texting!

Mike Drachovitch: Phone.

Nicole Landa: Definitely phone--email is too impersonal

What is the most fun you’ve ever had?

Amy Lin: Last summer while studying abroad in Europe, my friends and I started our day laying on the beaches in Nice, France, then spend some time gambling at the Monte Carlo in Monaco (My first time gambling!) and finally travelled over to Italy for dinner.

Peter Simones: I'm a sports nut. I play sports, watch sports and write about sports because sports bring me the most joy. The most fun I've ever had falls into the "playing" category. My sixth grade basketball team was trailing by 20 points in the second half of our state tournament semifinal game against a team we had never defeated, but somehow we found a way to win. Staging an improbable comeback of that magnitude and on that stage is something I wish I had the chance to relive.

Koran Hardimon: I went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and climbed the famous Dunnes River Falls.

Chris Becker: Going to a World Cup game in Germany in 2006

Ginny Dick: Jumping out of a plane at 12,000 feet.  I have yet to find anything as magnificent and unbelievable and exhilarating all at the same time.

Mike Drachovitch: Traveling to Notre Dame University for the 2005 SC vs. ND game with my fraternity brothers.  After scalping a 50 yr. line ticket, I found myself in a in a sea of blue and gold right in the middle of the Notre Dame clergy section... Funny story actually.  From 4th and 9 to the infamous "Bush-Push," I witnessed one of the greatest college football games of all time.   

Nicole Landa: Being at Fenway Park to Watch the Red Sox score a game winning grandslam in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Three favorite things about LA:

Amy Lin:

1. Different communities – I grew up in Seattle where there are not many different ethnic communities. However, if you drive 10 minutes in various directions in LA, you can end up in Korea Town, Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Santa Monica, Pasadena.

2. The food – Like I said before, I am a huge foodie! Since there are so many different communities in LA, I love exploring the different foods from that area!

3. The weather – I can’t lie, it’s amazing. I’m from Seattle so being able to wear flip flops year round and not having to carrying an umbrella is incredible.

Peter Simones:

1.  Size - Everytime I drive around this city I see something new. Considering how much I drive, that's saying a lot.

2.  Eclecticism - I know I made that word up, but LA is so eclectic. Not only do I always find new things, but each new thing, new place, new person brings a totally different feel.

3. Ocean - Coming from Minnesota, I can't get enough of the ocean. Lakes just aren't the same thing!

Koran Hardimon:

1. Weather - being able to wear sandles and shorts in December is amazing.

2. Opportunities - you can achieve anything you want in Los Angeles.

3. Diversity - anywhere you go in L.A. you will meet someone that is completely different than you.

Chris Becker:

1. The wide variety and diversity of culture (manifested in the different neighborhoods and restaurants).

2. Watching a Dodgers baseball game on a summer night.

3. The beaches.

Ginny Dick:

1. Graffiti art - some of the worlds greatest artists come to display their art in the public forum of local streets.

2. Networking and connections- everyone seems to know SOMEONE in this town.

3. Culture - all different types of food, music, art, etc. is within reach (with a car of course).

Mike Drachovitch:

1.  Can't complain about the weather.

2.  The geographic diversity. From downtown, to the valley, from Beverly Hills, the Manhattan Beach.  You'll always find something new where ever you visit in LA.

3.  The fast pace of the city.

Nicole Landa:

1. The beach

2. The weather

3. Kicks for a Cause!