Norah Weinstein

Company: Baby2Baby
Title: Co-Chief Executive Officer
Industry: Non-profit
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Notable in 2023: Hosted U.S. VP Kamala Harris, federal government and Baby2Baby announced a pilot program to improve maternal care and support struggling families.

One in every two families in the United States struggles to afford diapers, a socioeconomic crisis that underscores the critical need for an organization like Baby2Baby, which developed an approach to diaper manufacturing that is lower cost than traditional retailers.

Dedicated to providing a broad set of basic child-care necessities, including formula and clothing, to families living in poverty, Baby2Baby has been under the helm of Norah Weinstein and her co-CEO Kelly Sawyer Patricof for over a decade. They have transformed a grassroots organization into a national nonprofit that has provided 375 million diapers to children in need since its inception. Last year alone, Baby2Baby received requests for 1.3 billion diapers.

Diapers continue to be a primary focus because they are what families in poverty often need help with most.

"We worked with homeless shelters and social service agencies and asked them 'What is a hole you need filled, what problems are you having?' And time after time, they came back with the same answer: they didn't have diapers, they didn't have basic essentials and they weren't able to do their work without families being able to make these simple ends met for their children," Weinstein told CNN.

Work with the U.S. government last year was among the notable achievements for the organization. In May, Baby2Baby and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services worked together to distribute newborn supply kits to families experiencing poverty in Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico, in support of a Biden Administration mission to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes by providing essentials for both mother and child, from diapers and wipes to thermometers and breastfeeding supplies.

Through its own disaster relief and emergency response program, Baby2Baby has distributed 50 million items to children and families impacted by natural disasters, including floods in California and tornadoes in Mississippi.

By providing these essentials for families, Baby2Baby is able to help lift a financial burden off families allowing them to spend their money on other necessities like rent, groceries, and utilities at a time of multi-decade high inflation.