Jill Buck: How she scaled a kitchen-table nonprofit into national impact

Lee Wochner:
We all want to change the world. But what about changing the nation’s future one school at a time? Changing environmental policy and practice on site with schools is what Go Green Initiative in Pleasanton, California does. Doing this on a one by one basis with schools across a very large nation might seem like too big a task.

But Go Green and their founder and CEO, Jill Buck, are resolute in their determination and hopeful in a time when hope too frequently can seem diminished. Everywhere I go, she says, I meet people who care about children. Even if they’re not sure about climate change, they care about kids’ well-being, and that means they care about the future. What’s behind her optimism?

Years of success, and hard-won realities about how to run a nonprofit organization successfully. There’s a lot we can learn as nonprofit leader Jill Buck gives us a schooling in hopefulness, management, marketing, and can-do-ism in this episode of How to Market Your Nonprofit.

Jaclyn Uloth:
Welcome to How to Market Your Nonprofit, the Counterintuity podcast featuring interviews with experts in marketing, fundraising, strategy, and leadership who offer how-tos and inspiration about how you can help your nonprofit succeed and grow during a time of chaos and change. Bringing his 25 plus years of experience in marketing, strategy, and nonprofit management, here’s our host, Lee Wochner.

Lee Wochner:
Jill, it’s great having you join us today. Thank you for your work in support of the environment, including founding Go Green Initiative in 2002.

Jill Buck:
Well, thanks for having me, Lee. I’m really excited to be with you today.

Lee Wochner:
Awesome. I’d like to start off by helping people understand what Go Green Initiative does. Your website says, “environmental justice for every child in every school.” What does that mean?

Jill Buck:
For us, this comes from previous EPA guidance on environmental justice. It means a few things. First, it means that our existing environmental laws would be enforced in schools. For instance, with lead in water: we’re not supposed to have over 15 parts per billion in drinking water. And yet in schools, that’s not always the case—which is harmful to children.

That’s just one example of how environmental laws enforced elsewhere aren’t always enforced in schools.

Second, we mean no child should bear a disproportionate amount of negative environmental consequences compared to students in other schools. For example, if one school has an egregious level of pollutants while another nearby school does not, that’s an environmental justice problem.

Finally, environmental justice means parents, students, and community members get a voice in the environmental conditions of their schools. They should have a say in policy and regulations that affect their environment. That’s what we mean by environmental justice for every child in every school.

Lee Wochner:
So Go Green Initiative is pursuing environmental justice, which I appreciate. How do you go about doing that? Do you have programs? What offerings do you have?

Jill Buck:
We do. We work with school districts—generally senior administrators—on a number of programs, depending on the environmental conditions they’re facing.

In some districts, a lot of water or energy may be wasted, so we help them conserve. Others may have contaminants in their drinking water, and we help address that. Right now, we have a large grant to improve indoor air quality in schools nationwide. We walk through schools with administrators, look for evidence of mold or other issues, and work with them on remediation.

We also address food safety, working with child nutrition services departments so kids don’t get toxins or chemicals in their food supply.

On the student side, we offer programs like internships and Local Leaders of the 21st Century, a high school environmental club. All of this can be found at gogreeninitiative.org.

Lee Wochner:
I don’t know if people immediately grasp how fixable these issues are. I want to pause here because I believe in improvement—and I think you do too.

A couple episodes ago we had John Guile, who grew up in Los Angeles. He talked about what the air quality used to be like. I’ve heard from others, too. But we improved it. LA has far better air quality now than in the ’50s, ’60s, or even ’80s—because people worked on it.

And one thing I remind myself of: I’m not that old, but at an age when, 150 years ago, I’d already be dead. We’ve extended lifespans by tackling issues like the ones you’re addressing. Listening to you reminds me—in the Middle Ages, people drank out of lead cups. Even as a kid I learned lead was harmful. When we set our minds to these things, we can achieve real change.

Jill Buck:
Absolutely. I saw this firsthand in Newark, New Jersey. The first time I visited a school there, the drinking fountains and even faucets were covered with black garbage bags. They didn’t want kids drinking the water or even washing their hands in it because there was so much lead—you can absorb it through your skin.

But Newark has taken tremendous action. They worked with state lawmakers to get funding to replace the lead pipes in their community. They’ve rectified the situation in less than a decade, which is incredible progress.

Lee Wochner:
That really is. So do you have specific programs people sign up for? Do they apply? How does the process work?

Jill Buck:
It depends.

If we’re providing what we call tier one service—where we staff up as part-time district staff—that requires significant grant or foundation funding, and districts apply for that level of help.

But we’ve also created online courses. Everything we use for tier one service is available for free on our website, so school districts can do it themselves.

There’s also a hybrid option. We’re not embedded full-time, but we provide intermittent help. This is available to most districts: we can answer emails, phone calls, or hop on monthly webinars to guide them.

Beyond that, we also help districts tap into existing taxpayer-funded resources. For example, the EPA has worked on indoor air quality in schools for nearly 30 years and created Tools for Schools. Much of our work builds on that—we’ve updated and modernized it.

So even if we can’t provide day-to-day support, we can connect school districts with resources and help them find solutions they may not know exist.

Lee Wochner:
What have been some of the impacts of your work?

Jill Buck:
Well, depending on the programs we’re doing, some of the impacts are very tangible—kids being able to breathe easier, students with asthma not suffering from poor indoor air quality.

We worked with one school district a few years ago that had a brand-new elementary school—state-of-the-art construction, brand-new HVAC systems—and yet, as soon as they opened, kids were missing school due to asthma attacks and allergy problems. Teachers were affected too, and no one could figure out why. They brought us in. We checked for mold, HVAC problems—all the usual culprits. None of that was present.

So I asked to see the air intake, and right underneath the vent was a beautiful flower garden full of sunflowers and other high-pollen plants that trigger allergies. I suggested moving the garden away from the intake, and as soon as they did, the problem was resolved. Suddenly, the building was functioning perfectly.

That’s one kind of impact. But there are broader ones too. We keep in touch with our student program alumni through a LinkedIn group, and many of them have gone on to careers in sustainability. Even those in other fields—engineers, finance professionals, English teachers—bring the lessons they learned during our internships into their adult careers. That thrills me.

After working nationwide for more than two decades, the impact of our programs has been pretty far-reaching.

Lee Wochner:
There are a lot of impacts there, and I love how you described them. It’s not just students, not just the school districts, but everyone who comes into contact with Go Green Initiative. Even your alumni are carrying what they learned into their lives and careers, which spreads the impact further. You’re like a Johnny Appleseed.

Jill Buck:
I like that. I may steal that from you.

Lee Wochner:
You may have it. Your story about that school district reminds me of something from the early ’90s. At my old house in the hills of Burbank, California, I once saw three kids waiting for the bus. One was sneezing and coughing and said, “I have asthma.” The second said, “I have asthma too.” And the third said, “Well, we all have asthma. Everybody has asthma.”

It was heartbreaking, because when I was their age, I didn’t think everybody had asthma. But here in Southern California, we’ve made real progress. We’ve corrected a lot of those problems. So hats off to you, Jill, and to your work.

Jill Buck:
Thank you. I have to say, I work with some really inspiring people. We’ve never gone into this thinking we could do it all ourselves. We have wonderful partners who help extend the impact of our work.

Lee Wochner:
Let’s talk about change for a moment, because we’re in a period of enormous, fast-moving change—socioeconomic, political, and technological. How has Go Green Initiative been impacted by changes in the past few years?

Jill Buck:
Tremendously. Some of our funding comes from federal sources, and that’s been stressful at times—we weren’t always sure if we’d be able to retain that funding to continue our indoor air quality work. Fortunately, we’ve built strong relationships with the federal agencies that support us, and so far, we’ve been able to keep going.

We also have a grant supporting recycling education and outreach on the East Coast, and again, there were concerns about whether we’d lose that funding. So far, things are going well.

But beyond funding, we’ve faced changes like every other nonprofit—staff transitions and board transitions. Personnel changes can be the toughest. Funding can be replaced if you work hard enough, but people are harder to replace. In nonprofits, we don’t always pay what private industry can, so when staff members get better opportunities, I’m happy for them but sad to see them go. Board members, too, sometimes need to step away due to life changes.

Over the past three years, we’ve had a lot of change. But truthfully, that’s always been the case in our field. Working in the space between government, private industry, and schools requires you to be nimble.

Lee Wochner:
Yes, it does. Speaking of being nimble, have you made any adjustments recently in how you operate to adapt to these changes?

Jill Buck:
We have. For staffing, we’ve started using more 1099 contractors for project-based work. We still have W2 employees, but sometimes we don’t need someone full-time, just highly qualified for specific projects.

We’ve also streamlined board work by using AI for tasks like drafting minutes, which lightens the load for volunteers. We’ve reassessed travel, too—how much is really necessary versus what we can do online.

On the expense side, insurance costs have gone up significantly, like for many nonprofits. But risk management is essential, so it’s an unavoidable cost.

Across staffing, governance, and operations, we’ve had to rethink and adjust.

Lee Wochner:
A recurring theme we’re hearing from guests on this show is that nonprofits have to operate like businesses. If you’re not already doing that, you’re behind. And from what I’m hearing, you’ve always brought that perspective to Go Green Initiative.

Jill Buck:
We really have, Lee. Before we even got our 501(c)(3) status, we had to incorporate in the state of California. That means we are a business—we just happen to have nonprofit status. So when it comes to employment law compliance, audits, bookkeeping, procurement, insurance—all the things a business must do—we’re no different.

In the early days of Go Green Initiative, I was in schools all the time, doing the frontline work. Now, I rarely get to do that because I’m running the organization: keeping the business side going so that my staff can be out there delivering programs. I do miss being that frontline person working directly with school districts, but I believe in the mission enough to focus on what the organization needs most.

Lee Wochner:
You’ve mentioned grants and government funding. Do you also pursue individual funding—donors, sponsorships, things like that?

Jill Buck:
We do. We’ve had tremendous success with corporate sponsorships—that’s been one of our most effective fundraising tools. We also have individual donors and we greatly appreciate them. But to be candid, building a really robust individual donor program is incredibly time- and staff-intensive.

Since we’ve never had a full-time fundraising professional, it’s been tough to sustain that kind of effort. Corporate donors and government funding have been more efficient for us in terms of staff bandwidth. So we’ve leaned more heavily into those avenues.

Lee Wochner:
I appreciate your wisdom in shaping the funding portfolio that works for you. One size doesn’t fit all. Some nonprofits are better served by pursuing individual donations, but for yours—especially given your connection to school districts—I can see how your approach makes a lot of sense.

Jill Buck:
Mm-hmm.

Lee Wochner:
I’d like to talk about marketing for a moment. What marketing do you do to spread the word about Go Green Initiative?

Jill Buck:
Honestly, our most effective marketing has always been partnerships. For example, early on I was a PTA president, so I knew there were other parent advocates nationwide who would be interested in bringing the Go Green Initiative to their districts. I partnered with state PTAs—Texas was the first, then New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and more.

By developing close relationships with those state organizations, I not only spoke at their conferences but also relied on them to share our materials with thousands of schools in their networks. That’s why we grew so quickly.

In 2005, we partnered with the National School Boards Association. Messaging through them meant our information reached school board members nationwide. They’ve been around for 80 years, and they’re now our partner on the federal funding that supports our indoor air quality work.

So while we do email newsletters, social media, podcasts, and all the usual marketing, partnerships have been the most effective strategy for amplifying our message.

Lee Wochner:
We often steer clients toward chambers of commerce because…

Jill Buck:
I used to be board chair of my local chamber of commerce, so I know exactly where you’re going.

Lee Wochner:
Same here. I was on my chamber board for 10 years, and also chaired the community foundation board for 10 years. The beautiful thing about partnerships like chambers of commerce is they cost little to nothing to join—just your time, which is valuable—but in return you gain access to hundreds of connectors.

With a healthy chamber, you instantly connect with 300 to 1,000 organizations, sometimes more. They’re hidden gems, and it surprises me that more nonprofits don’t think of them right away.

Jill Buck:
You’re absolutely right. For geographically small nonprofits—those serving a single town or county—chambers are especially valuable. Not only do you reach potential clients, but you also find critical services.

For example, our lawyer is a chamber member, and we found our payroll specialist through the chamber. If I need signage or printing, I can usually get a member discount because those businesses are chamber colleagues.

It’s not just a service exchange—it’s also a circle of trust. Chamber members feel a sense of duty to do right by one another, and that strengthens the relationship.

Lee Wochner:
Exactly. It’s a powerful, mutually supportive relationship. So, with these partnerships, how do you connect them to your fundraising efforts? Do you ask them to spread the word? Do you ask them, do you go after them? That sounds awful, after them. You work with them on sponsorship opportunities. I mean, how does it align?

Jill Buck:
Well, I’ll give you the most recent example. The National School Boards Association has been one of our nonprofit partners, and we’ve never asked them for funding. But when I wrote the grant we’re now working on for the next five years, I asked them to partner with us. Their staff worked with me—communications, co-branding social media, their magazine where I contribute quarterly, and monthly webinars we co-host.

Because of that partnership, we were awarded a significant grant for this five-year program. I believe that partnership made us more competitive. It shows how partnerships can feed directly into fundraising, even without money changing hands. Sometimes partnerships allow you to present a more comprehensive suite of services, which makes you more attractive to donors, sponsors, and grantors.

Lee Wochner:
The other gem in what you just said, Jill, is content—sharing useful, valuable content and appearing in other people’s venues. When you appear in their newsletters or publications, you’re educating their audience about what you do. Very smart.

Jill Buck:
That’s right. And we do the same with others. Just yesterday, for example, we held our monthly webinar and the American Lung Association was our guest speaker. They brought incredible expertise to our audience. By opening our doors to each other, we all make a greater impact. And again, that makes us more attractive to donors.

Lee Wochner:
I also think right now is a great time for partnerships—maybe even more powerful and attractive than before. With some funding cuts happening, partnerships expand your circle of reach at no additional cost.

Jill Buck:
That’s right.

Lee Wochner:
You gain access to another audience, and they gain access to yours. Everyone benefits. Years ago, I ran the Performing Arts League in Los Angeles. At first, there was suspicion that theaters were in competition with each other. My perspective was different—the real competition was people staying home and watching TV.

So if we marketed together, we could all grow and share our audiences. That’s the strategy we pursued, and it’s the same strategy we use today. Partnerships are low risk, high reward.

Jill Buck:
That’s right. And it’s also made us a better organization. We’ve gained wisdom, insights, and perspectives from organizations across the country that enrich our own point of view and strengthen our ability to meet clients where they are. It’s invaluable.

Lee Wochner:
We’re going to take a short break here, but when we come back, Jill and I will talk about nonprofit leadership, what drives her to succeed, and more. Stick around.

Jaclyn Uloth:

Surprise! Next year is almost here — already! 

Making the most of  2026 means starting right now. Best to prepare now — before time slips away. 

Your overall marketing and branding, your donor engagement, your content and social media – everything that goes into increased success — it all needs a review. Need help getting ready? ? Reach out through our website at counterintuity.com, or  email Lee at lee@counterintuity.com. We’re ready to help. 

And now back to our show. 

Lee Wochner:
And we’re back with Jill Buck, founder and CEO of the Go Green Initiative, headquartered in Pleasanton, California, but with national reach. Jill, what led you to start the Go Green Initiative in 2002?

Jill Buck:
It’s a very personal story. I have three kids, and when my youngest was in preschool, she developed life-threatening asthma. We had to rush her to the ER several times. No one in our family had asthma, so it was a mystery at first. We eventually discovered it was due to chemicals—pesticides used at her preschool.

As I researched, I realized millions of children across the country were experiencing similar or worse health problems from environmental toxins at school. At first, I just wanted to find a comprehensive program I could bring to my child’s school. But nothing existed. So I wrote it myself—at my kitchen table in 2002. That’s how the Go Green Initiative was born.

Lee Wochner:
Scratch every nonprofit founder and you’ll find a personal story that inspired them.

Jill Buck:
That’s true. And it has to be something visceral—something that drives you even in your lowest moments. Running a nonprofit is a roller coaster. There are times you’re tempted to give up, and the memory of that experience keeps you going.

Lee Wochner:
And you probably have to be a little stubborn.

Jill Buck:
Very stubborn! Don’t talk to my husband, Lee—he’s got a support group about that.

Lee Wochner:
(laughs) I understand. I’m also a playwright, and after frustrations with a theater producing my work, I thought, “I can do better than this.” So I started a theater. Thirty-three years later, we’re still going strong.

In your 23 years of leading a nonprofit, you’ve surely seen highs and lows. What lessons have you learned that might help other nonprofit leaders?

Jill Buck:
The first that comes to mind is cash accounting—not accrual. Especially when funding is uncertain, it’s safer to budget based on the money you have in hand, not on pledges or promises. I’ve seen nonprofits get into real trouble that way.

One of our clients, Compton Unified, has a superintendent who also runs on cash accounting principles. As a result, the district avoids sudden crises, like having to hand out pink slips when expected funding doesn’t come through. I saw many nonprofits collapse in 2008 during the Great Recession because they relied on accrual accounting. Since then, we’ve stuck with cash.

Lee Wochner:
That’s a fascinating tip. When you’re running a nonprofit and face a problem—whether money, marketing, or management—what’s your process for moving from “uh-oh” to “we can do this”?

Jill Buck:
First, I spend time alone thinking it through—writing things down, clarifying the problem. Then I talk to the smartest people I know: board members, mentors. I bounce ideas off them, refine my thinking, and then bring it to my staff.

I’ve been fortunate to hire incredible people. Staff meetings are energizing—they generate so many solutions. So the process is: clarify in my own mind, consult wise mentors, then brainstorm with staff. That process always leads us to solid solutions.

Lee Wochner:
I love that you have a process. It grounds you and prevents panic. What’s the greatest challenge facing Go Green Initiative right now?

Jill Buck:
Staffing. Every time we add more staff, our impact grows dramatically. The need is so great. I wish we could clone our current team and send them everywhere. If schools already had clean drinking water, healthy indoor air, and energy efficiency, we could close shop. But we’re not there yet. So every day I think about how to get more staff out into schools.

Lee Wochner:
Many nonprofits right now are in crisis. What advice would you give them?

Jill Buck:
Triage. Identify the absolute non-negotiables that need immediate attention. Push everything else aside for later. Focus your staff and board on the urgent issues only.

And as a leader, keep a cool head. Your people will feed off your energy. Stay composed, take care of yourself—don’t let exhaustion or stress diminish you. Role model calm problem-solving. Once you stabilize the urgent issues, you can revisit everything else later.

Lee Wochner:
That’s excellent advice. You’re talking about mindset and focus. Too many leaders spend their time opening 37 metaphorical doors in a hallway, peeking inside, and never moving forward. Triage, as you describe it, helps you focus on what matters.

Jill, I could talk to you all day. I love your mission, your energy, and your perspective. With so much change happening in the world, what makes you feel hopeful right now?

Jill Buck:
Everywhere I go, I meet people who care about children. Even if they’re not sure about climate change, they care about kids’ wellbeing—and that means they care about the future.

Years ago, I came up with a motto: It’s not enough to prepare our children for the future. We must prepare the future for our children. That drives me. We’re not just toughening kids up for a difficult future; we’re working to make the future itself less harsh. And the willingness I see in people to do that gives me hope.

Lee Wochner:
That’s beautiful. Where can people learn more about the Go Green Initiative?

Jill Buck:
The easiest place is our website: gogreeninitiative.org.

Lee Wochner:
And if listeners want to reach you directly?

Jill Buck:
On our website, the contact form comes straight to me. I love hearing from folks and learning what’s happening in different parts of the country.

Lee Wochner:
Jill, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your work, your success, and your passion.

Jill Buck:
Thank you, Lee. It’s been a pleasure.

Jaclyn Uloth:
Thanks for listening. How to Market Your Nonprofit is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. Please like and follow the show. Visit counterintuity.com to learn more.