Lessons from School Sustainability Leaders
Find Allies. Build Coalitions.
“Your stakeholders must be part of the conversation.”
Stakeholders are the individuals or groups who have an interest in or are affected by the school’s sustainability initiatives. They play a role in decision-making, implementation, support, or are impacted by the outcomes of these efforts.
For example, facilities managers and custodians are important stakeholders in conversations and planning for energy efficiency and waste reduction initiatives. Not only do they have firsthand knowledge of how the school operates, but they’ll also be the ones actually doing the work—adjusting HVAC settings for energy savings, maintaining recycling and composting stations, implementing water-saving measures, and ensuring sustainable practices are followed in daily operations. By involving them early and fostering shared ownership of sustainability efforts, schools can create solutions that are both practical and effective, ensuring long-term success rather than top-down initiatives that may be difficult to implement.
Schools that involve a diverse group of stakeholders in sustainability efforts create stronger, more successful sustainability programs that benefit both the school community and the environment.
To better understand stakeholder priorities, Frank Barros - sustainability director at the Nightingale-Bamford School (New York, USA), developed a simple yet effective method using a makeshift ballot box. Each stakeholder receives 10 paper clips and places them in the sustainability categories they believe are most important. Over the course of a month, this process generates a clear picture of which issues matter most to each group, providing a data-driven way to shape sustainability priorities.
This method does more than just collect input—it actively engages stakeholders in the decision-making process, fostering a sense of ownership over the school’s sustainability goals. When people see their perspectives reflected in the strategy, they are more likely to stay involved, support initiatives, and help drive meaningful change.
“Build the broadest coalition you can build.”
Tori Faye, at Chadwick School (California, USA), notes that a large part of her role as school sustainability coordinator is connecting the various constituencies across the school. “I need to make meaningful touch points with facilities, with every grade level, with the administration, with the staff, with the parents, with alumni… every single constituency is part of this process.”
Two notable groups she is working with to steer Chadwick’s sustainability efforts are students and parents. For the Upper School Sustainability Council, Tori guides a group of nine students in various leadership positions. This core team, passionate and experienced in sustainability, oversees committees and leads an open-to-all upper school group comprising approximately 20 to 25 individuals.
“Students have way more power than adults do in terms of getting change to happen on campuses… it's very hard for leaders at campuses to say no to students.”
“I will say, as every other teacher has always said, students have way more power than adults do in terms of getting change to happen on campuses. And I would argue that parents in a private school setting similarly have a lot of power. And so I think sometimes when I really want to have something get done, and the students care about it too, I will say, hey, you guys take the lead on this one, because it's very hard for leaders at campuses to say no to students, and it's much easier for them to say no to adults.”
The second major focus is collaborating with parents and efforts to establish sustainability as an official part of the Parent Body. “One of the things that we're trying to do is to actually build sustainability in as an official part of the architecture of our parent body. We have what we call the CPA, the Childhood Parent Association, which includes, for example, the Booster Club that does athletics, and Friends of the Library, and other groups. So far, sustainability has not reached the level of having its own group, but we're hoping to move toward that. It would give us some sort of permanent basis with permanent elected positions within the parent bodies, and some consistency over time and allow us to secure our funding in more stable kinds of ways.”
“You can’t do big things alone. You need your administrators. You need your facilities crew. You need the board, the finance team, the cafeteria team. When everyone is doing a piece, the culture starts to shift.”
Case Study: Emily’s Journey at Interlochen School of the Arts
When Emily Umbarger was first asked to “put in a garden” to kickstart sustainability at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the school didn’t even have a recycling program. Rather than going it alone, Emily understood that meaningful, lasting change required a web of allies—and she set out to build one.
“I knew I couldn’t do this by myself,” she said. “I am also going to need cultural support… I need all the people on the ground level who can help me make this change“
Emily understood that co-ownership was essential. When people feel heard and invited in, they become champions of the work. “Through the conversations, I would share with them my ideas, and then they would share with me their ideas. And now it became our idea together, and sort of this collaborative ownership…”
She began by identifying and personally meeting with key stakeholders across the school:
Facilities and operations directors
Dining services and food waste staff
Finance leadership
Environmental services and cleaning crews
Landscape and grounds teams
Teachers and administrators
Emily understood that ownership was essential. When people feel heard and invited in, they become champions of the work. “Through the conversations, I would share with them my ideas, and then they would share with me their ideas. And now it became our idea together, and sort of this collaborative ownership…”
From no recycling program in 2016, to a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School just three years later and a thriving sustainability program that continues to grow, the coalition she built helped transform ambitions to reality at Interlochen. Together, they launched composting systems, integrated sustainability into the curriculum, installed water-filling stations, created a regenerative school farm, and established a dedicated sustainability department with full-time staff.
Emily’s advice to others?
“You really will get so much further when you have stakeholders at all levels… You need to have your administrators on board… It is as much from the top down as it is from the bottom up.”