Students learned about balancing non-profit and style on Nov. 7 at a meeting presented by BANGS shoes in the Business Administration building.

Hannah Davis, CEO of BANGS Shoes, visited the Kent State campus as part of her effort to spread the word about her shoes for a cause.

“I’m really excited to be here at Kent State,” Davis said. “I’ve gotten a really amazing response from everybody.”

Davis visited classrooms on Thursday to speak about the company, its accomplishments, individuality and style.

BANGS Shoes, in collaboration with non-profit partners, gives to six causes. The shoe company donates 20 percent of its profits to charities for education in the United States, development in Uganda, providing clean water in East Africa, ending hunger, promoting financial empowerment and aiding disaster victims globally.

Each shoe color and emblem on the shoe corresponds with a designated cause. For example blue shoes represent the development effort in Uganda.

Davis, having been involved in charity efforts through out college, was inspired by a shoe found at an army surplus store in China. She created BANGS shoes about a year ago.

“I feel like I didn’t do anything to deserve a lot of what I have and there are other people in the world who are born into different circumstances that nobody could have changed,” Davis said. “I feel a sense of duty to leverage the privilege, that I did nothing to deserve, to help other people.”

On Kent State’s campus, Davis has acquired student ambassadors to promote and sell her brand. BANGS Kent has just begun their involvement with the brand. Thursday evening was their first major event to promote the shoe company.

BANGS currently has 38 student ambassador groups, which averages to about 200 volunteers across the nation.

“They really don’t compare to anyone else,” said Carly Clifton, BANGS student ambassador and managerial marketing major at Kent State. “They’re interested in sustainable change and they’re interested in making the world a better place and I think that’s what makes them very special, plus they’re cute!”

Students like Clifton, who have joined the BANGS ambassadors, have the opportunity to put their major skills to work and interact closely with Davis to provide a greater good.

Other students like Shannon Stucke, had were able to attend the event and ask a CEO questions about the very topics they may personally enjoy and entertain as a career possibility.

“[BANGS] is a combination of everything I want to do, and that I love,” said Stucke, a junior advertising major with a minor in non-profit studies.

“I actually like what she said about social enterprise,” said Jake Wolfe, another student attendee and a junior entrepreneurship major. “I could see myself doing something like that.”

BANGS shoes are available through the student ambassadors and at http://www.bangsshoes.com.

Contact Samantha Tuly at [email protected].