How Baby2Baby stepped up as LA wildfires raged
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof discuss their organization's rapid response to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires one year ago and how they transformed their nonprofit from a 600-square-foot space to a global organization distributing over 250 million diapers. (03:42) The conversation reveals how they scaled their mission from addressing basic needs like diapers to responding to 100+ disasters while maintaining their core focus on serving vulnerable children and families.
- Main theme: How to scale a nonprofit organization while maintaining mission focus during crisis response and everyday operations
Speakers
Norah Weinstein
Co-CEO of Baby2Baby, formerly a lawyer in New York who worked on pro bono cases involving children and mothers. She transitioned from legal work to nonprofit leadership, bringing operational expertise and legal oversight to Baby2Baby's scaling efforts.
Kelly Sawyer Patricof
Co-CEO of Baby2Baby, former model who lived in New York and volunteered at a Head Start center in Harlem where she witnessed children unable to focus on schoolwork due to lack of basic essentials. Her modeling background and celebrity connections became instrumental in Baby2Baby's growth strategy.
Key Takeaways
Scale Through Partners, Not Direct Service
Baby2Baby deliberately chose to serve children through established partner organizations rather than directly to families. (06:34) This strategic decision allowed them to leverage existing networks of hospitals, schools, homeless shelters, and foster care agencies rather than building their own distribution infrastructure. The approach enabled rapid scaling because partners already knew their communities and could identify the most vulnerable children. For professionals, this illustrates the power of building on existing infrastructure rather than creating everything from scratch.
Say Yes First, Figure It Out Later
When Edelman PR offered $100,000 and 100,000 diapers, Kelly and Norah said yes despite having no forklift, warehouse, or distribution system. (14:17) They literally googled "what is a pallet?" while agreeing to accept pallets of donations. This willingness to commit before having all the answers enabled exponential growth opportunities that careful planning might have missed. The key is distinguishing between calculated risks that align with your mission versus reckless decisions that could derail progress.
Leverage Celebrity Strategically for Mission Impact
Baby2Baby transformed celebrity relationships into a systematic fundraising and awareness engine, joking they became "agents" doing endorsement deals for their cause. (21:25) Their first Huggies partnership yielded 100,000 diapers; by leveraging Jennifer Garner's involvement, they secured 5 million diapers and wipes. Fourteen years later, this relationship culminated in an $8 million grant. The strategy works because it creates win-win scenarios: celebrities gain positive association, corporations achieve charitable marketing goals, and the nonprofit receives massive resource influxes.
Maintain Laser Focus on Your Core Mission
Despite opportunities to expand, Baby2Baby deliberately stays in a "narrow lane" focused on basic essentials for children. (26:09) They've only taken on two policy initiatives - eliminating diaper taxes and maternal health kits - because both directly supported their core mission. This focus allows them to become the definitive expert in their area rather than diluting impact across multiple causes. For entrepreneurs, this demonstrates the power of saying no to seemingly good opportunities that don't directly advance your primary objective.
Build Systems That Can Rapidly Activate in Crisis
When LA wildfires struck, Baby2Baby immediately activated their disaster response protocols, holding 9AM daily huddles and deploying their team across the city for pop-up distributions. (08:40) Their 14 years of building relationships with local organizations meant they already knew which shelters, schools, and community centers would need support. This wasn't improvised - it was the application of systems built through responding to 100+ previous disasters. The lesson for leaders is that crisis response capabilities must be developed during peacetime, not during the emergency itself.
Statistics & Facts
- Baby2Baby has distributed 250 million diapers since its founding 14 years ago, but this year alone they received requests for 1.7 billion diapers, highlighting the massive unmet need. (19:19)
- One in two families in America are struggling to afford diapers for their children, with diapers being the fourth highest expenditure in any low-income family's budget after food, rent, and utilities. (28:28)
- Their annual gala has grown from raising $1.1 million in the first year to nearly $18 million this year, representing 60% of their operating budget raised in a single night. (23:56)
