Brooklyn tech
student founds
non-profit to
deliver books
to the less
fortunate
Giving back with the gift of knowledge.
BY JAIME DEJESUS That is what 16-year-old Brooklyn
Technical High School student Dea Kurti
has done. In addition to her studies and
countless responsibilities and activities
at her school, in July, 2017, she also
founded Novel Girls, a non-profit that
hosts book drives, and sends books about STEM
or women empowerment to schools and libraries
around the world.
Kurti, who spent four years of her childhood
in Albania, was inspired by her parents who are
immigrants from there.
“Growing up in New York, it’s a very active type
of place and I never felt disconnected from the
world because of being a woman but I know that
little girls out there don’t have the same feeling
and don’t feel empowered or liberated due to
their countries and whatever it may be,” she said.
“My parents are both immigrants from Albania
and I hear stories from them. They didn’t grow
up like I did. My family on both sides were denied
education. There were things that stopped them
from being able to have access to education so
that’s what inspired me.”
She started the non-profit at Brooklyn Tech,
which was easy, she said, due to its large student
body and her enthusiastic friends.
Dea Kurti
Photos courtesy of Dea Kurti
QNS.COM
SPRING 2018 19