We Are Not Just Here to Make Shoes

In times like these, when our air, water, climate, and public lands are under constant attack, we’re continuing our mission of taking action with renewed gusto—with a new campaign to activate KEEN employees and our fans.

Because … Better Takes Action.

“From the inception of this campaign, we set out with a simple goal: to inspire a call to action for our fans, our community, and our employees to engage their civic voice to protect open spaces and drive positive outcomes,” says Tyler LaMotte, Chief Marketing Officer at KEEN. “As a brand dedicated to making leading products for our fans to experience life outside, the aim is that together we can take action today for a better tomorrow.”

Whether it’s helping create a better world for future generations or enjoying better adventures today with our families, the only way to make anything better is to do something about it.

A CALL TO ACTION

We kicked off the campaign in January at the winter Outdoor Retailer trade show in Denver, Colo., bringing an old phone booth back to life as a tool for attendees to experience what KEEN’s Better Takes Action campaign means. Refurbished and repurposed with call scripts for several environmental topics, visitors were able to easily call their representatives in Washington, D.C., and make their voices heard on the issues they care about.

“Oftentimes, the biggest barrier to engagement is having access to the right tools to make your voice heard, so with the KEEN Call to Action booth, we’ve removed all the barriers by providing visitors with the tools they need to take action – the phone, phone number, and call script,” says Erin Gaines, Advocacy Manager at KEEN. “We wanted to create a supportive environment for engagement, and even visitors who were nervous or hesitant at first walked away feeling empowered, with a smile and a sticker telling the world, ‘I took action!’”

The phone booth even caught the attention of U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner of Colorado who stopped by to make their own calls—leaving messages for each other!

WE MAKE SHOES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

As a values-led, family-owned brand, our passion for the world around us is at the heart of everything we do. You could say taking action is in our DNA. For 15 years, we’ve been giving back to communities, non-profits, and open spaces; advocating for a healthy planet; and reducing impact in our supply chain. Since 2003, KEEN has donated over $15 million to causes around the world, our Live Monumental tour helped secure public lands protections for three key areas, and all KEEN footwear containing leather uses environmentally preferred leather from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group, which promotes sustainable and appropriate business practices within the leather industry.

Still, we strive to do better. And that’s what Better Takes Action is all about.

TOGETHER, LET’S TAKE ACTION FOR A BETTER WORLD

What’s your better? When it comes to creating a better world, it only takes a minute to make your voice heard on an issue you're passionate about.

Simply dial the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and follow the prompts to be connected to your elected officials. Whether you are connected directly to a person or voicemail, you can follow this general script or use these sample scripts from our partner organizations to politely send your message:

Hello,

My name is [name] and I live in [city, state, zip code]. I am a constituent of the Senator/Representative.

I support/oppose [Senate bill # or House bill # or policy issue you care about], and I strongly urge the Senator/Representative to support/oppose it too.

This issue is important to me because… [briefly describe why you care about this issue and what impact it has on you, your family, your business, or your community].

(Optional) Can you tell me what the Senator/Representative thinks about this issue?

Thank you for your time and for delivering this message to the Senator/Representative.

KEEN’s Better Takes Action campaign is a call to action to do more for a better world. Find out more about how KEEN is committed to putting its values in motion.