Hippy Feet founder to speak as Innovator in Residence

February 21, 2022 - Michael Mader, founder and CEO of Hippy Feet, is the spring 2022 Innovator in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. He will speak on “Removing Barriers. How an Innovative Idea Led to Social Change,” on Tuesday, March 1, at 11 a.m. via Zoom.

The Innovator in Residence is part of an innovation program at UWRF’s College of Business and Economics. Students learn to solve problems creatively and develop business models from their ideas in innovation classes and also compete in the campus Innovation Challenge. UWRF students have taken first place in the Wisconsin Big Idea Tournament three times in the past six years and have gone on to start businesses that impact some of the biggest global issues, including homelessness and water security.

Mader’s vision of helping homeless youth inspired the creation of Hippy Feet in 2016. The company initially donated one pair of socks for every pair sold, but quickly recognized and started addressing another urgent need - job training and transitional employment for young people experiencing homelessness.

Hippy Feet employs homeless youth, ages 16 to 24, in their packaging, screen printing, and embroidery operations. Mader hosts employment sessions at Hippy Feet's Minneapolis office and partners with local nonprofits to connect the young people Hippy Feet employs with emergency financial services, bus passes and gas cards for transportation, interview clothing, work boots, and other related items or services that ensure there are as few barriers to income as possible.

Mader honed the initial concept of Hippy Feet as part of the 2015 UWRF Innovation Challenge.

For more information about this event and to join the presentation, visit go.uwrf.edu/innovator or call 715-425-3335.