Society & Culture
If you’re an entrepreneur looking to drive real change—especially in education—Stephen O’Brien’s approach offers a playbook for creating measurable impact in even the biggest organizations. Here’s what you can learn from his experience leading sustainable food service transformation in New York City schools (serving 1.1 million kids), and how you can apply these takeaways to your own venture.
3 steps for successful, sustainable change:
**Step 1: Start with pilots, not mandates.**
Stephen didn’t try to overhaul everything at once—he launched small experiments like “Trayless Tuesdays” and salad bar pilots. Success with these prototypes gave him proof of concept and protected him from big, costly failures.
**Step 2: Build coalitions—especially with your end users.**
Lasting change came because he listened to students, staff, nonprofits, and policymakers, using their feedback to design solutions that actually worked for them. When students asked for better serviceware, he collaborated *with* them, not *for* them.
**Step 3: Use scale as leverage, not just as a challenge.**
Stephen pooled buying power through the Urban School Food Alliance. By aggregating demand, he negotiated better contracts for compostable plates and locally sourced food, making sustainable options affordable even in a giant system.
Pro tip #1: If your innovation will cost more (at least at first), show how collaboration lowers overall costs—think group buying, shared specs, or pooled funding.
Pro tip #2: Don’t just pitch the feel-good angle. Stephen quickly shifted the conversation from “Can everyone eat?” to “How good is this food, and how sustainable is it?”—a quality focus that kept stakeholders engaged.
Pro tip #3: Celebrate early, visible wins to build momentum. Sharing quick results from pilot projects and engaging with media or policymakers helped Stephen prove the concept and scale more quickly.
Whenever another founder asks me how to build buy-in for radical changes—especially when you feel like the smallest player in a slow-moving market—I tell them to:
1. Pilot the change,
2. Build alliances with the most passionate users, and
3. Leverage whatever scale (and story) you can muster.
You may not be running the nation's largest school cafeteria, but you can always start smaller, test, scale, and invite others into the journey. Sustainable change is never solo work—and your allies may be waiting where you least expect them (including your youngest “customers”).