Greg “Johnny“ Ellis spent his formative years in the rural mountains of Wyoming. From gardening to camping, he grew up mostly outside, so his lifelong passion for the natural world is no surprise. Both of his parents were teachers which was Greg’s momentum for becoming an outdoor educator himself later down the road. When it came time for college, Greg would uproot from the mountainous landscapes he grew up in and plant himself on the California coast in San Luis Obispo. While studying Creative Writing and Pre-Med at Cal Poly State University, Greg interned at an emergency room in downtown Minneapolis where he witnessed first hand the connection between health, environment and socio-economic status, motivating him to explore preventative healthcare.

Naturally a self-starter, Greg took on a volunteer role with One Cool Earth in 2006, assisting with tree plantings. This hands-on experience would pave the way for his transition into outdoor education, where he’d play a key role working with his best friends in co-founding the organization’s garden program that now reaches 30+ public schools on the Central Coast. He’d go on to wear every hat at One Cool Earth—from garden maintenance and outdoor educator to Executive Director. This nonprofit has now been around for more than a decade. With Greg’s commitment, the annual budget grew from $3,000 to $800,000 and the program reaches 8,000 SLO County public school students annually.

In 2020, Greg branched out into freelance consulting, supporting grant writing, program development and strategy with over a dozen small and emerging nonprofits that address social and environmental issues. He is constantly inspired as he collaborates with passionate and talented leaders of the nonprofit realm.  Since beginning grant writing in 2008, Greg has written over 315 local, foundation, city, county, state and federal grants, winning 190 of them to bring in $12.6M in funding to small nonprofits doing essential work in education, diversity, and the environment. He has also developed fee-for-service models for nonprofits, helping reduce reliance on grant funding. 

Insightful and adaptive, Greg asks the kinds of questions that reveal opportunities and overcome challenges. Having navigated the nonprofit growth lifecycle from vision to impact, he’s earned his standing as the go-to person for expert grant writing, strategic program development, budget development, and fundraising. During his journey in the nonprofit world, he held roles including board member, volunteer, educator, executive director, evaluator, growth officer, and consultant.

A local who’s familiar with the nonprofit landscape of the Central Coast, Greg is enthusiastic about continuing to elevate programs and guide visionaries toward maximizing their impact. When he’s not drafting competitive grants or optimizing nonprofits from the ground up, Greg can be found traveling, mountain biking, and painting birds.