Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Fenley.
Carolyn, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
EcoClean Guardians began sitting in traffic.
Like many New Jersey residents, I found myself stuck on highways lined with litter plastic bags tangled in guardrails, bottles floating in waterways, debris scattered along on-ramps and neighborhoods we call home. I kept thinking: Why does this feel normal? And more importantly why aren’t we addressing this in a way that creates dignity and opportunity at the same time?
My professional background is as a career Executive Assistant to Commissioners and CEOs. I’ve spent decades building systems, managing complexity, operating with discretion, and turning vision into execution. I understand structure. I understand accountability. And I understand how to build something from nothing.
What I didn’t see was anyone treating litter abatement as paid, structured workforce development.
So I decided to build it.
EcoClean Guardians was incorporated in 2023 and formally launched in September 2025 as a New Jersey-based 501(c)(3). I personally bootstrapped approximately $100,000 to get the organization off the ground building the brand, filing the paperwork, assembling a board, developing operational systems, launching social platforms, and constructing what we now call the 80/10/10 model:
• 80% of funds go directly to paying local residents
• 10% to supplies and equipment
• 10% to administrative and operational costs
Our model hires local residents veterans, retirees, students, and under or unemployed adults at $20 per hour to participate in structured weekend cleanup activations. Teams of ten work 6–8 hours restoring roadsides, waterways, parks, and public spaces. We measure impact. We document results. And we treat environmental restoration as dignified work not volunteer labor.
As we’ve grown, the vision has expanded beyond “cleanup.”
We are integrating technology including leasing a RanMarine WasteShark autonomous water cleanup vessel and building toward what I call a Movement to Machine framework, where workforce and environmental robotics work together to create scalable, regenerative impact.
We’ve secured early support through Google for Nonprofits, Microsoft Nonprofit Tech, Amazon/Good360, and additional grant partnerships. We’ve joined professional memberships including the Association of New Jersey Recyclers and the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce. We’re preparing for expanded activations across Hudson, Essex, and Bergen Counties with plans to scale regionally.
But the most meaningful milestone isn’t a grant or partnership.
It’s when someone finishes a cleanup activation and says,
“I feel proud of where I live again.”
EcoClean Guardians exists at the intersection of civic pride, environmental health, and paid opportunity. We believe clean public spaces are not cosmetic, they influence mental well-being, economic vitality, and community identity.
I often reference the Margaret Mead quote:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
EcoClean Guardians is simply putting structure and compensation behind that idea.
We’re building more than cleanup events.
We’re building #TheCleanupMovement.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has absolutely not been a smooth road and I think that’s important to say out loud.
Launching EcoClean Guardians wasn’t just starting a nonprofit. It was building an entirely new category: paid litter abatement as dignified workforce development. That’s not a traditional lane. Most people view cleanup as volunteer work, municipal maintenance, or something handled quietly in the background. Introducing compensation, structure, data tracking, and technology into that conversation required a mindset shift and mindset shifts take time.
One of the biggest early challenges was credibility.
When you’re founder-funded and pre-revenue, people often want to see traction before they offer support but you need support to build traction. I personally bootstrapped approximately $100,000 to move the idea from concept to infrastructure: legal formation, insurance, board development, branding, compliance registrations, grant writing systems, and technology integration. That phase isn’t glamorous, and it doesn’t make headlines but it’s foundational.
Another challenge has been seasonality and cash flow timing. Environmental work is weather-dependent. Grants move slowly. Municipal processes move even slower. There were months of intense administrative buildout before our first full activation cycle even began. That requires patience and long term thinking.
There’s also the emotional side of entrepreneurship that people don’t talk about. When you are building something mission driven, it’s deeply personal. You’re carrying vision, payroll projections, partnerships, marketing, compliance, and fundraising often simultaneously. As a founder, you learn to hold uncertainty without letting it shake your conviction.
And then there’s the larger systems challenge: litter is often normalized. People drive past it every day. Changing that narrative. helping communities see environmental restoration as workforce opportunity, civic pride, and public health requires storytelling as much as operations.
But here’s what I’ve learned:
Resistance usually means you’re building something that doesn’t yet fit into an existing box.
Every hurdle forced us to strengthen the model. We refined our 80/10/10 budget structure for transparency. We built stronger board governance. We integrated technology like the WasteShark to demonstrate forward thinking scalability. We joined professional associations to anchor credibility.
So no, it hasn’t been smooth.
But it has been purposeful.
And I would argue that the friction is what shaped EcoClean Guardians into something sustainable rather than symbolic.
We’re not just organizing cleanups.
We’re building infrastructure for #TheCleanupMovement.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
At its heart, my work is about dignity.
EcoClean Guardians was born from a very ordinary moment sitting in traffic in New Jersey, looking at litter lining the highways and waterways, and feeling unsettled by how normal it had become. I kept thinking, We deserve better than this. And then the next thought came quickly: If we deserve better, why isn’t someone building it?
My background isn’t in sanitation or environmental science. I’m a career Executive Assistant to Commissioners and CEO’s. I’ve spent decades behind the scenes building structure, managing complexity, and turning ideas into operational reality. I understand how to build systems that work.
EcoClean Guardians is my application of that skillset to something deeply personal: community pride.
What we do is organize paid community cleanup activations. We hire local residents (veterans, retirees, students, under or unemployed adults) and pay them $20 per hour to restore roadsides, waterways, and public spaces. It’s structured. It’s measurable. It’s intentional.
But for me, it’s also symbolic.
We are saying that taking care of where we live has value. Tangible value.
Most cleanup efforts rely on volunteers, and volunteers are extraordinary. But not everyone can afford to volunteer. By compensating participants, we expand access and restore dignity to the work itself. That philosophy is what sets us apart.
What am I most proud of?
I’m proud that this organization didn’t begin with a grant; it began with commitment. I personally bootstrapped roughly $100,000 to build the foundation: legal formation, board governance, compliance, branding, operational systems, and technology integration. There were no shortcuts. No splashy launch. Just steady, disciplined building.
I’m proud that we created a clear financial model:n80% of funding goes directly to paying participants. That transparency matters to me.
I’m proud that we are integrating technology like the WasteShark water cleaning vessel, because I believe the future of environmental stewardship must combine human workforce and environmental robotics. I call it Movement to Machine honoring people while embracing innovation.
But most of all, I’m proud of the quiet moments.
When someone finishes an activation and says, “I needed this more than the paycheck.”
When a resident stops to thank the team.
When a once-neglected space looks restored and alive again.
Those moments tell me this isn’t just about litter.
It’s about agency.
It’s about belonging.
It’s about proving that one person sitting in traffic with an uncomfortable thought can decide to build a solution.
EcoClean Guardians reflects who I am: structured but hopeful, practical but visionary, disciplined but deeply committed to impact.
We’re not just cleaning up.
We’re restoring pride in place and in people.
And that’s what I’m most proud of.
How do you define success?
For me, success is alignment.
It’s when the mission, the operations, and the impact all move in the same direction and you can feel it working.
In very practical terms, success means our Guardian teams are paid on time, safely equipped, and proud of the work they’ve completed. It means a roadway, shoreline, or park looks visibly restored. It means a municipality sees measurable results and wants to partner again.
But success isn’t only operational.
It’s when someone who joined a cleanup activation for a paycheck leaves with a sense of ownership. When a resident says, “This feels different, this feels organized.” When a young person realizes environmental work can be dignified, structured, and compensated.
I don’t measure success purely by grant totals or social media growth, although those are important indicators of sustainability. I measure it by whether we are building something that can last without losing its integrity.
If 80% of our funding continues to go directly to people doing the work, that’s success.
If we can scale into additional counties without diluting quality, that’s success.
If technology like our water-cleaning vessel enhances rather than replaces human opportunity, that’s success.
On a personal level, success is knowing that I acted on the discomfort I once felt sitting in traffic. I didn’t just complain about the problem, I built infrastructure around solving it.
And long-term?
Success will be when paid environmental restoration is no longer unusual, when communities across New Jersey and beyond see it as standard practice.
If EcoClean Guardians helps normalize that shift, then I will consider this work successful.
Because real success, to me, isn’t attention.
It’s durability.
It’s dignity.
And it’s leaving something cleaner structurally and environmentally than we found it.
Pricing:
- Below is a general overview of our cost structure: • $20 per hour – Standard compensation rate for each Guardian participant • Teams of 10 participants per activation • 6–8 hour structured weekend activations (weather dependent)
- For Municipalities & Sponsors: • Community cleanup activations may be funded through: • Municipal service agreements • Corporate sponsorships (CSR/ESG initiatives) • Private philanthropy • Foundation grants
Contact Info:
- Website: Https://www.ecocleanguardians.org
