Clif Bar’s VP of Environmental Stewardship, Elysa Hammond, tells the story of Clif's journey toward sustainability and mission to make good food with a purpose.

Since Clif Bar’s owners, Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson, decided to keep the company private back in 2000, Clif Bar has been pushing the envelope on sustainability. Unlike most companies who account for a single—financial—bottom line, Clif accounts for five bottom lines which they call their 5 Aspirations: economic sustainability (Business); brand integrity (Brands); giving back (Community); employee wellbeing (People); and environmental sustainability (Planet). Elysa Hammond, who leads the Planet Aspiration, has been working with Clif since 2000 to develop and lead Clif Bar’s work in environmental sustainability. During that time, she helped launch Clif Bar’s transition to organic, their green supply chain program, the integration of biophilic design principles into their new bakery, and their on-going work in climate action for which they were recently awarded the EPA’s Climate Leadership Award. Elysa also serves on the Board of the Bard MBA in Sustainability program to support the creation of a new kind of business leader.

REI, in collaboration with Bard MBA in Sustainability, presents Elysa Hammond: she will tell the story of Clif Bar’s journey to sustainability in an effort to raise the bar on making the bar.