Influential Woman · Nonprofit BelieveNBooks
Natasha Agarwal
Founder & CEO, BelieveNBooks
Philadelphia, PA
Her Story
About Natasha
Natasha Agarwal serves as the Founder and CEO of BelieveNBooks, a nonprofit organization she established in 2021. The organization's foundational model centers on book drives, which she began as an eighth grader during the COVID-19 pandemic after recognizing educational gaps in access to reading materials for lower-income students. As a University of Pennsylvania sophomore on the pre-law track based in Philadelphia, PA, Natasha has expanded these efforts to include read-aloud initiatives such as the Page Turner program and authored an African girls empowerment book, reaching over 250,000 books distributed to 50,000 students across the U.S. and Africa. She credits her success to her supportive nonprofit board, her mother, dedicated partners, and the joy of the children she serves. Natasha emphasizes values of responsible growth, intellectual curiosity, and maintaining passion in her work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Natasha
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my having a nonprofit board that backs me and supports meaningful expansion, my mom who has been involved every step of the process to support me, the partners I've worked with, and the feedback from the kids, whose eyes light up with joy when receiving books.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
A lot of people have told me to try everything especially in college, don't resign yourself to one specific industry too early, take classes across the board that you would never usually select, join a club that uses skills outside of your wheelhouse, and keep your options open. Being 19, it’s nice to know that I have time to try new things and take risks right now.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Go for it! The hardest part is getting started, and as long as you have a sustainable model and a couple of mentors, the rest of your growth will come naturally. Maintain your passion and tenacity, have a knowledgeable team behind you, and make sure your project is backed with funding and resources, including time and a volunteer base. Don’t hesitate to seek the advice of others in the field.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For youth founders, there are a lot of up-and-coming funding opportunities, awards, grants to apply to that connect with experienced leaders. In literacy, reading rates are at an all-time low due to a combination of poverty constraints and increased screen time for young children, so it feels even more important to ensure that youth have strong foundational literacy skills and can put devices down to get lost in a book.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Responsible growth is really important for nonprofit work, making sure you're experimenting within your funding capacity and target audience, programs align with core mission, balancing with innovation excitement and creativity. Personally, I really value intellectual curiosity, always trying to learn new things, and being social to meet people from different walks of life. College has been a really unique experience because I have both of those opportunities every day.
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