National Diaper Bank Network Founder Joanne Samuel Goldblum Honored with Second Major Award in 2025

National awards recognize grassroots advocacy efforts addressing basic needs and strengthening the social fabric of communities nationwide.

NEW HAVEN, CT, UNITED STATES, December 18, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Joanne Samuel Goldblum, founder and CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN), has been named co-recipient of the 2025 NonProfit PRO Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor recognizes Goldblum's transformative work building a national movement that has reshaped how communities address basic needs, and strengthened the social fabric that supports the physical, mental, and economic health of families living in poverty.

This is Goldblum’s second major award this year. In September, she received the 2025 Excellence in Advocacy (EIA) Award at the 2025 Women in Government Relations (WGR) Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.

"These awards reflect the power of community-driven solutions and the dedication of hundreds of organizations working every day to ensure families have access to essential supplies," said Goldblum. "What began as a simple observation while working with mothers in deep poverty has grown into a movement, proving that when we come together and make positive policy choices that ensure we all have the basics that we all require to thrive, we create better futures for individuals, children, and families.”

Goldblum founded what is now The Diaper Bank of Connecticut in 2004 after recognizing that many families could not afford an adequate supply of diapers for their babies. This fact puts infants' health at risk and blocks parents' access to child care, work, and education. As she distributed diapers locally, calls poured in from across the country from people wanting to replicate the model in their own communities.

Seeing the opportunity to amplify impact, Goldblum founded the National Diaper Bank Network in 2011, with the support of founding sponsor Huggies^®, to connect basic needs banks, facilitate best practices sharing, and create collective purchasing power to dramatically reduce costs. The Network, which marks its 15th anniversary in 2026, has grown from roughly a dozen diaper banks to more than 300-member basic needs banks serving families nationwide today.

In 2019, Goldblum expanded the Network's reach by launching the Alliance for Period Supplies, addressing similar barriers to health, education, and participation in daily life, exacerbated by period poverty. Advocacy efforts have helped end the "tampon tax" in 40 U.S. states and pass legislation that mandates and funds free period supplies in schools throughout the country.

Today, the Network collectively distributes more than 240 million diapers, and 39 million period supplies annually. Since its founding, NDBN and its member basic needs banks have distributed more than 1.4 billion diapers. Many member organizations have broadened their scope under Goldblum's leadership to include adult incontinence products and household supplies, addressing needs that often fall through holes in the traditional social fabric of support.

Goldblum has championed research collaboration throughout her career, partnering with academic institutions, including the Yale Child Study Center, on groundbreaking peer-reviewed studies examining the effects of diaper need on maternal and child health. She recently established the National Diaper Bank Network's Department of Innovation and Impact to advance research and evaluation across the field, which collaborated with the Urban Institute to launch the Diaper Insecurity Dashboard that identifies diaper insecurity at the county level.

Her philosophy, detailed in her book "Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty," maintains that poverty results not from personal failure but from systems that deny people access to resources. As Goldblum often says, "Poverty is not gravity. It does not have to exist."

"Joanne has built more than an organization – she's built a movement rooted in the belief that every family deserves access to basic necessities," said NDBN Board Chair Kevin Faulkner. "Her vision, persistence, and unwavering commitment to addressing basic material needs have improved the lives of millions of families and inspired countless others to join this work."

About National Diaper Bank Network

The National Diaper Bank Network (NDBN) leads a nationwide movement dedicated to strengthening the social fabric that unites communities by ensuring individuals, children, and families have the basic material necessities they require to thrive and reach their full potential. Launched in 2011 with the support of founding sponsor Huggies^®, NDBN creates awareness, advances public policy, leads academic research, and builds community to end diaper insecurity and period product insecurity in the U.S. Its active membership includes more than 300 basic needs banks serving local communities throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. More information on NDBN is available at nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org, and on Instagram (@DiaperNetwork), X (@DiaperNetwork), Facebook (facebook.com/NationalDiaperBankNetwork), and Bluesky (@diapernetwork.bsky.social).

Troy Moore
National Diaper Bank Network
+1 203-295-7987
troy@diaperbanknetwork.org
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