Welcome to the Clif Family Foundation, an organization we started in 2006 to support small-to-midsize grassroots groups led by people whose vision and commitment we deeply admire. We have been proud to support hundreds of organizations that are working tirelessly to strengthen our food system, enhance equitable community health outcomes, and protect the places we play by being stewards of our environment and natural resources. Our desire has been to leave the world a better place for our children. Now that we’re grandparents, the urgency to build a healthier, just, and sustainable world is even more personal. We look forward to expanding the reach and impact of the foundation in the years to come. This includes working with more organizations to make their innovative ideas a reality and supporting a new generation of leaders. We believe we can all do more good in the world. Together.
Gary Erickson & Kit Crawford
Founder and Co-Owners of Clif Bar & Company
Welcome to Clif Family Foundation
Foundation Priorities
Strengthen Our Food System
- Grow organic farming and other climate-friendly agriculture
- Connect families with local food outlets and farmers
- Create viable opportunities for the next generation of farmers
- Democratize access to fresh and nutrient-dense foods
- Remove barriers to a thriving racially diverse agriculture
- Safeguard agricultural seeds and biodiversity
- Curtail exposure to toxic materials
- Expand pedestrian and bicycling opportunities
- Improve workers’ standard of living, wages, and working conditions
- Increase access to nature and outdoor activities
- Promote clean water access
- Accelerate action on climate change
- Advance renewable energy and support green jobs
- Break the resource waste cycle
- Conserve water supplies for fair, long-term access
- Foster widespread environmental justice
- Preserve watersheds, open spaces, and wild places
Timeline
2021
Clif Family Foundation celebrates 15 years of transformative giving.
2018
The foundation awarded its first grants beyond the U.S. in Canada to nonprofits that promote ecological agriculture as a dynamic response to climate change.
2016
In celebration of the foundation’s 10-year anniversary, we reflected on our original mission and found grassroots groups, innovative leaders, and general unrestricted grants more essential than ever.
2012
The foundation administered its first Program-Related Investment, becoming a founding investor in the Bard MBA in Sustainability, which treats environmental and social challenges as problems that can be solved, profitably, with business tools.
2009
Our first special initiative, Seed Matters, improves and protects seed (the critical first link in our food chain) through grants, and the first-ever U.S. grad student fellowships for organic plant breeding at land grant universities.
2006
We expanded our vision and capacity for positive change by founding Clif Family Foundation, funded entirely by Clif Bar & Company, and we stay 100% engaged by serving as the foundation’s directors.
2000
A $120 MILLION buy-out offer tested our resolve, but we chose to stay private and build a different kind of business accountable to 5 bottom lines (our people, planet, community, business and brand) and committed to growing the good.
1992
CLIF BAR & COMPANY was born out of Gary’s passion for good food, cycling, and the unconventional idea that you could have both at the same time. It took years of inspiration and summiting obstacles to grow the company.