Soles4Souls Names Four New Board Members

Soles4Souls, Inc., a not-for-profit social enterprise dedicated to advancing the fight against global poverty through the distribution of shoes and clothing, added four new members to the organization's board of directors.

The new directors represent the first expansion of Soles4Souls' board under the leadership of President & CEO Buddy Teaster, a former YPO executive who was hired as the organization's second-ever CEO in 2012, and who has guided Soles4Souls to a four-star rating with nonprofit rating agency Charity Navigator. 

The new Soles4Souls directors are:

• Van Gholston, an attorney at Auburn, Alabama law firm Haygood, Cleveland, Pierce, Mattson & Thompson, LLP
• Bernadette Lane, Partner and Senior Vice President of Special Project at CCS, an international strategic philanthropy firm
• Patrick McLaughlin, formerly Group President at Prima Royale Enterprises & Evolution Design Laboratories in Los Angeles
• Dr. Bernard Turner, Assistant Professor and Director at Belmont University's Center for Social Entrepreneurship

"Strengthening our board is central to our goal of at least doubling the impact that Soles4Souls makes in the fight against global poverty," said Teaster.  "Our new members are committed to the important mission of our social enterprise operating model, while bringing considerable depth of industry, development and professional expertise."

The Soles4Souls social enterprise model monetizes donated shoes and clothing to create sustainable jobs through its selected micro-enterprise partners, which provides the revenue to help fund direct relief efforts including distribution of new shoes and clothing in the U.S. and overseas. Since its founding in 2007, Soles4Souls has handled and distributed some 21 million pairs of shoes and hundreds of tons of clothing in more than a hundred countries.  The organization plans to announce new micro-enterprise initiatives in several new countries this year.

Profiles of each new Soles4Souls board member follow:

• Van C. Gholston obtained his BS from Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, in 1970, his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1973 and his LL.M. in Taxation from New York University, School of Law New York City, New York in 1974. Van's many years of legal experience includes serving as Tax Counsel for the Arabian American Oil Company in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for several years, serving as District Attorney for Butler, Crenshaw and Lowndes Counties in Alabama for eighteen years and being engaged in the general practice of law for the balance of his legal career. 
• Bernadette Lane is a Partner and Senior Vice President of Special Projects at CCS.  She has provided professional counsel to human service, humanitarian, civic, education, healthcare, conservation, cultural, and faith-based organizations in the United States and internationally for 25 years. During Bernadette's career at CCS, she has planned and managed campaigns that have raised more than $1 billion with more than $300 million being raised from outside of the United States. Her expertise is in planning and operations as well as organizing groundbreaking domestic and international donor and volunteer initiatives, as well as conducting feasibility and planning studies, development assessments and in lead and major gift initiatives. Bernadette has led successful donor and volunteer initiatives and meetings throughout the United States and in countries such as Brazil, Sweden, France, India, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
• Patrick McLaughlin was Group President at Prima Royale Enterprises & Evolution Design Laboratories in Los Angeles, California. Pat has also served as President of Nine West's Wholesale Division and a variety of other senior leadership roles in the footwear industry for more than 35 years and is a Lifetime Member of the Two Ten Footwear Foundation
• Dr. Bernard Turner has 30 years of diversified work experience with 20 years in the nonprofit sector. He has worked for Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University in various fundraising and administrative/management positions. He also has extensive experience training, consulting, and volunteering with social sector organizations and conducts various grant-writing workshops for the Center for Nonprofit Management in Nashville. Currently, he serves on the Grant Professionals Association Foundation board of directors and as treasurer.

By press release