USA TODAY Women of the Year: Milwaukee Diaper Mission's Meagan Johnson

Meagan Johnson is one of the nominees for USA TODAY’s Women of the Year program, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

Meagan Johnson has always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

Long before the 39-year-old started Milwaukee Diaper Mission, she was organizing birthday parties and plays for her younger cousins. While studying arts education and fine arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she hosted a fundraiser to raise $600 for the Milwaukee High School of the Arts. When a parenting group she attended shut down, the mother of two started her own.

It was while teaching a class on cloth diapers for that group that she came upon a startling statistic: As of 2010, one in three U.S. families with young children couldn't afford enough diapers to change their child's diaper at frequent, healthy intervals. By 2023, nearly half of families couldn't afford enough diapers for their children, according to the National Diaper Bank Network.

Johnson, who lives in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and had two children in diapers at the time, thought about how stressful it would be to, say, have only one diaper left on Tuesday, with payday not coming until Friday.

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"I think caregivers would feel a great sense of guilt, frustration and anxiety of not providing for their children," she said. "These basic needs are crucial for one's health."

Johnson then discovered Milwaukee did not have a basic needs bank.

So she did something about it, and in September 2020 co-founded, with her cousin Jessica Syburg, Milwaukee Diaper Mission with the goal of providing diapers, wipes and period products to social service agencies in the greater Milwaukee area.

The nonprofit started with just Johnson, her family and a friend volunteering their time, with Johnson sometimes paying for a babysitter for her own children so she could work on the nonprofit. She had to learn how to operate a 501(c)(3), including various accounting tasks and setting up a board of directors.

Soon MDM grew from filling Johnson’s two-car garage with products to its own facility and in November 2024, a 12,000-square-foot warehouse in Cudahy, Wisconsin. The nonprofit now has two other staff members, more than 1,000 volunteers and in 2024, celebrated its first million diaper distribution year. To date, it has provided more than 2.5 million disposable diapers, about 4,500 cloth diapers and 1 million period products to the community.

Oh, and Johnson secured a couple of well-known faces to help with the nonprofit’s mission.

Mariah Riddlesprigger, director of strategic initiatives for the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation and wife of Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, is on the nonprofit’s board of directors. The couple has three children together and do an annual diaper drive for MDM.

Johnson is grateful for the star couple's — and the rest of the community's — support.

"At the beginning, I felt this organization needed to exist, but I never really knew if people would accept this organization," Johnson said. "Fortunately, people did. People from all walks of life. ... I am proud of the community we built."

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

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My proudest moment was the birth of my two sons. The birth and the postpartum are not for the faint of heart. My sons are 5 and 8. I am very proud that I am a mother. There are so many milestones. One milestone is that going through pregnancy and childbirth and being a woman is a superpower. Childbirth is difficult. Then there are milestones of when they start talking and when they start school.

For the Milwaukee Diaper Mission, I am proud of every milestone we surpassed. We made an impact as we are a very, very small organization. It is a testament to the team and the amount of support we received and the community that made it possible.

For me ... other diaper bank leaders and founders who started a similar organization and had been doing it for several years. ... I looked to them for support because there were no other organizations in the Milwaukee area. I talked to the founder and CEO, Megan (Sollenberger), of the Village Diaper Banks in Madison. She saw a need and started it out of her house. We had a similar journey.

I also talked to the founder of Sweet Cheeks Diaper in Cincinnati, also founded by Megan (Fischer). They figured out fundraisers and partners and lent out a lot of knowledge on a personal level. I started a nonprofit alone and am seeing other women as a support system on a professional and a personal level.

My mom, Jennifer Johnson, influenced me. She worked hard in getting her master’s degree in social work and worked in the healthcare field. She is a medical social worker and helped a lot of families during their most difficult times.

I watched her work an eight-hour day and then make a hot meal for our family, do dishes and laundry, and then go back to her job. I never saw her complain and get frustrated. She prioritized her career along with her family. It was her intent to grow professionally. She was passionate, and her work ethic was all a tribute to her.

Also, my grandmothers. One was a housewife and the other had a career. I look up to them as strong women who prioritized a family and made it happen. My grandmother Suzanne Johnson, my dad's mom, went to school to be a nurse. She was a nurse and then a housewife. My grandmother Phyllis Peterson was a Navy WAVE, and she worked with kids. She always worked and made a name for herself. I wish I could have spent more time as an adult with her.

I would tell myself to pay better attention in school, especially in math and geography. I was very focused on the arts. I loved theater. Now, as my kids are in school, a third grader learns things, and I am like, "Gosh, I don’t even know that." Pay attention closely in school, as you do not know where life will take place.

Courage is being strong in the face of adversity. As it relates to my work and my career, courage is taking risks and prioritizing the future in a way that makes sure the organization is sustainable and that taking risks can open new doors.

I think you just get through it. You have a struggle, you get through it, and you move forward. I am big on authenticity. It is innate. It is easily learned. If you move forward with authenticity, the rest will follow.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." I believe it was Nelson Mandela's quote. We have (this mantra) in a huge sign in our warehouse. I am like yes, that is what we are doing here. You never know if you are doing the right thing. I love that quote.

I always say to start small and grow tall. Not everything has to get done right away. Focus on the small details, and that will get you where you want to go.

Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.