The San Diego County Public Defender’s Office announced its list of 25 Most Remarkable Teens from around San Diego County and recognized them at a special ceremony Thursday. Among the 25 honorees, were two students from Del Norte High School. Vidhi Kulkarni received the award in the Entrepreneur category. Zinia Khattar received the award in the STEM Innovation category. You can read more about their achievements and the award below.
Vidhi Kulkarni, 17, a student at Del Norte High School received the award in the Entrepreneur category. She founded a nonprofit organization, “The Special Entrepreneurs.” Her mission is to equip individuals with disabilities with the tools and skills to become financially independent through workshops, financial literacy and STEM skills. Vidhi nurtures the potential in participants and provides an online platform for them to sell their products. Vidhi also serves as the president of the Girls in Computer Science club and founded the Genes in Diseases and Symptoms club, and is part of the miRcore organization, dedicated to computational biology research.
Zinia Khattar, a junior at Del Norte High School, is recognized in the STEM Innovation category. Zinia leads Scientella, a nonprofit organization that promotes the next generation of women in STEM. Her organization has global outreach and she has collaborated with professionals from renowned companies to provide research projects, internships and mentorships or young aspiring innovators. She has helped raised nearly $100,000 in scholarships that are distributed to deserving students around the world. Beyond this, she has an intense interest in biomedical sciences and has personal research achievements.
About San Diego's 25 Most Remarkable Teens
The 25 teens were selected from among 77 nominated by the community for their inspiring contributions and efforts in categories such as civic involvement, activism, commitment to personal excellence and courage to overcome personal adversity, science and arts and culture.
All nominees were interviewed and presented their supporting materials before Public Defender’s Office staff and the San Diego County Public Defender Youth Council.
The program recognizes youth ages 13 to 19 for their accomplishments. Every nominee was interviewed by the San Diego County Public Defender Youth Council panel. All nominees received a certificate of recognition.
Civic leaders and elected officials from San Diego County and the City of San Diego presented the awards at the San Diego Central Library. This is the sixth year teens have been selected for the program.
For a full list of the 25 honorees, go to: https://www.countynewscenter.com/san-diegos-most-remarkable-teens-for-2023-honored/
