LifeStraw, Global Water Filtration Leader, Charts Course for Next Decade Naming Alison Hill CEO
Expands Retail Business and Give Back Program
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeStraw, the market leader in water filtration for the outdoors and award-winning humanitarian company, today named its long-time managing director, Alison Hill, as CEO. Fifteen years since the launch of the landmark LifeStraw product and more than 20 years at the helm of LifeStraw's parent company, Vestergaard, owner and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen passed the reigns of LifeStraw to Hill. Vestergaard Frandsen will continue his long-time passion and influence in driving humanitarian entrepreneurship businesses through a position on the Vestergaard board, as well as launching a new venture, Sceye.
During Hill's tenure, business grew more than 80% during the last five years in the outdoor sports and emergency retail markets and in 2019, the company also entered the household market with the launch of the LifeStraw Home water filter pitcher. The growth of the retail business has driven the launch and success of one of the largest private investments in providing school children with access to safe water globally. The brand recently marked a milestone of providing over three million school children with a year of safe water through its give back program and expansion to new programs in Mexico and Ghana in 2019.
Hill has been with parent company Vestergaard and the LifeStraw brand for over 10 years. She has overseen the company's development from a core humanitarian brand to a successful retail brand, while maintaining the company's strong humanitarian roots. She has a deep background in global public health including a masters' in public health and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.
"As we head into the next decade, we still have a tremendous amount of work to do to bring safe water to people around the globe including right here in the U.S.," commented Hill. "This is why we are expanding our research, innovation and product design, and scaling our safe water programs so we can continue to meet the needs of emerging water quality issues around the world. At its core, LifeStraw is a humanitarian company first. This mission will continue. We see our commitment to social impact as a business driver not a cost to the company."
The LifeStraw leadership team has grown to include Tara Lundy, the head of brand, who has raised the company's profile over 8 years and Daniel Luipersbeck, CFO. The team will continue to build the business upon the foundation of humanitarian entrepreneurship and stay true to the company's Danish roots as a leader in innovation and design.
About LifeStraw
LifeStraw makes water safe to drink. The company has earned a global reputation as a pioneer and innovator in water filtration technology that transforms microbiologically-contaminated water into safe, potable drinking water. The first LifeStraw, introduced in 1996 in partnership with the Carter Center, has been instrumental in the near-eradication of Guinea worm disease. Time-tested in some of the harshest environments around the world, LifeStraw products are today used in households, clinics and schools across 64 countries, and revered by outdoor enthusiasts, adventure travellers and home users. LifeStraw products are sold in retail stores across North America and online at www.lifestraw.com.
SOURCE LifeStraw
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