Time Magazine 'Girls of the Year' honoree Naomi DeBerry is on a mission to spread awareness and understanding of organ donation

Earlier this year, Naomi DeBerry's mother, Kelly Harris-DeBerry, received an email from Time Magazine asking for parental consent to make 13-year-old Naomi one of the magazine's Girls of the Year for 2025. The list features young leaders who are inspiring communities around the world. Naomi was elated and surprised by the recognition. "We don't know how [TIME] found me or how anything happened," Naomi said. "It's just really a blessing that I've been given this opportunity." 

That opportunity is the chance to spread awareness of organ donation. When she was just six years old, Naomi — a New Orleans native — learned her father, Jarvis DeBerry, was sick. Naomi knew he wasn't well, but she didn't understand that he had kidney disease, nor did she know why he was hooked up to a machine at home multiple times a week to receive dialysis treatments. "I didn't really know that my dad had kidney disease," Naomi said, mentioning that she didn't understand what function the kidneys played in the body at that time. "I was kind of shielded from knowing everything that had happened," she said.  

Naomi's confusion and lack of understanding over what was happening with her father continued even when he received a kidney transplant in February 2020, when she was 7 years old. "I remember [my parents and I] went to one of my dad's kidney appointments, and [the doctors] gave me a coloring book," she said. Naomi, who loves to read, did not find the coloring book particularly helpful. "I was like, 'I'm trying to find out more about [kidney disease and transplants]' and I needed to be able to comprehend what was happening, and I just wasn't able to do that with the coloring book," she said.  

It was this experience — and Naomi's frustration over the lack of information available to her — that inspired her to do something that would change her life and catch the attention of Time Magazine: write a children's book about being the daughter of someone who was diagnosed with kidney disease and needed a transplant. "I wrote this book to help kids understand [kidney transplantation] and to help kids not feel the same way that I felt," she said. "I wanted to impact other people in a positive way, spread organ donor awareness and let kids know they are not alone."  

The book — titled "My Daddy Needs a Gift" — was released in June 2024, and Naomi said she's been thrilled by the response it has generated. "People have been really inspired by it, and it makes me happy," she said. "Adults have said that it's helped them understand [kidney disease and transplantation] better, too. We put a glossary in the back of the book with kidney terms and terms about transplants, so it becomes easier for not only kids, but for adults to understand [as well]." 

Naomi was able to further spread awareness of organ donation by appearing on the "Tamron Hall Show" in April 2025. "[It was great] because you're grabbing the attention of not only local news or regional news, but this was the whole country," she said. "I just appreciate that people were willing to listen to a kid, especially from a perspective not everybody knows and that not everyone is used to." Naomi also recently spoke at a conference for the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation, appearing on the panel "Teen Voices, Transplant Journeys: Real Talk from Young Warriors."   

Her involvement in organ donation doesn't end with her advocacy work. After seeing doctors and surgeons care for her father, Naomi decided she wants to be a transplant surgeon when she grows up. "I want to help people who need help," she said. "I want to be able to give back and have full circle moments. [As a transplant surgeon], not only are you helping the patient, but you're also helping their families. You're re-gifting the gift of life.  I want to help people in the way that doctors were able to not only help my dad, but me and my mom and well." 

After being recommended by one of her teachers, Naomi attended a pre-medical program at the University of California-Berkeley in summer 2025.  "Going to UC Berkeley gave me an experience that I'll be able to carry on with me for future programs," she said. 

When asked what advice she would give to both kids and adults who have someone close to them who is dealing with kidney disease or any serious illness, Naomi said she encourages people to take the time to get informed and to not neglect their personal needs. "Try to learn more about [what's going on with your loved one]," she said. "Take care of your family and take care of your loved ones, but it's also important to take care of yourself." She also emphasized the importance of speaking out and urged kids to remember that they don't have to wait until they grow up to make a difference. "You're never too young to stand up, and you're never too young to advocate," Naomi said.  

To learn more about Naomi, visit naomicreatesjoy.com.   

To read Naomi's Girls of the Year profile in Time Magazine, click here.  

Visit kidneyfund.org/kidney-donation-and-transplant to learn more about transplantation and organ donation.