Meet Kenton Lee | Founder of a nonprofit called Because International and creator of our first project The Shoe That Grows

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kenton Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenton, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Right after college, I decided to travel the world for a year. I lived in Nairobi, Kenya for six months and volunteered at a small orphanage. Two or three weeks into my time there – I was walking next to a little girl wearing a white dress. As I looked down at the girl, I was shocked to see how small her shoes were. She was wearing shoes that were WAY too small for her feet – they were so small she had to cut open the front of her shoes to let her toes stick out. That was the day I had the idea for a shoe that could adjust and expand their size. That was the day the idea for The Shoe That Grows was born.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I started Because International in 2009. We are a nonprofit with a mission to use products as solutions to alleviate poverty. This is best seen in our first product – The Shoe That Grows. We make our shoes in Kenya – and we connect them to partners around the world who distribute them to kids in need. We are so proud of our innovative solution to try to make life better for kids in need. It has been a fun journey working with our growing shoes. We have worked with over 5,000 partners to get almost 400,000 pairs of shoes to kids in over 100 countries.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Nampa, Idaho is an awesome town. I’ve been here my whole life – born and raised. It is a wonderful place to raise a family. The best part of Nampa is the community feel that everyone shares. It is a town where people love living together and sharing life together. Nampa has awesome restaurants and coffee shops – including my favorite coffee shop (Flying M Coffee Garage in Downtown Nampa). And it has amazing parks. My kids love playing at the parks in town.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shoutout to my community here in Nampa, Idaho. When I first had my idea for The Shoe That Grows – I grabbed a few friends and we jumped in. We didn’t know what we were doing. We just wanted to make a pair of shoes that could expand their size and try to help some kids. Our community was always there for us. It took us six years to make our shoes – it was a long journey. And we could not have done it without the support of our community. They helped us fundraise money. They encouraged us. They gave us advice. The Shoe That Grows would not be here today with the support – large and small – from our wonderful community of Nampa, Idaho.

Website: https://becauseinternational.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becauseinternational/