20. Diya Mirza

Diya Mirza was born on 9 December 1981, is an Indian model, actress, producer and beauty queen who won the Miss Asia Pacific 2000 title. Mirza has primarily worked in Bollywood and is known in media for her social work. She co-owns a production house, Born Free Entertainment, with her husband Sahil Sangha. Their first film, Love Breakups Zindagi, was released on 7 October 2011. Mirza worked while in college as a marketing executive for a media firm, Neeraj's Multi-Media Studio. At the same time she modelled for print and TV commercials for brands such as Lipton, Wall's ice cream, Emami and many more. She won Miss Asia Pacific in 2000. She has garnered much praise for her social work. She got an IIFA 2012 Green Award for her contribution towards a green environment. She has done awareness campaigns on prevention of female foeticide, HIV awareness, the Cancer Patients Aid Association, PETA, ADAPT and CRY. She publicly supported the Narmada Bachao Andolan. She has written articles for Hindustan Times and other publications. Mirza has been involved with Cancer Patients Aid Association and Spastics Society of India, and has worked extensively with the government of Andhra Pradesh to spread HIV awareness, prevention of female foeticide, PETA, CRY and most recently the NDTV Greenathon – an effort to find tangible solutions against pollution and the book, "Deke Dheko" by Radio Mirchi (a campaign initiated to collect books for underprivileged children). Her other hobbies include writing, reading, painting, pottery, horse riding and theatre. She has written several articles for the Hindustan Times and other publications as a guest writer. She is on the board of the Coca-Cola foundation that works towards development in rural India. She is associated with campaigns such as Sanctuary Asia's Leave Me Alone and Female Foeticide. She recently adopted two cheetah cubs at the Prince of Wales zoological park in Lucknow. Mirza, along with Aamir Khan publicly expressed support for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a group protesting the building of a dam. This aroused the ire of political activists from the Bhartiya Janata Party, who led a protest march against the actress. Día won the Green Award at IIFA 2012 for spreading awareness about environment-related issues. Along with these, Mirza has endorsed The Body Shop for their stand on a ban on animal testing and propagation of recycled packaging and natural products. She is the Eco-Ambassador for Panasonic. Mirza has been felicitated at award functions for her active involvement in social and environmental issues. She has been named the ambassador for the Swachh Bharat Mission's youth-based 'Swachh Saathi' programme. As an ambassador, the actress would interact with school and college students from across the country through awareness sessions, community cleaning activities and motivational videos. She joined Save The Children India as their first ever artist ambassador. As an ambassador, she will use the reach of her celebrity status to champion the rights of children in India and around the world. On World Environment Day 2017, she was appointed brand ambassador for the Wildlife Trust of India. She has lent her support to WTI's wildlife conservation endeavors for several years now and is a founder-member of the organization's Club Nature initiative. "I hope that over the next 15 months it will capture the country's imagination, corporate India, and people to come together and help secure 101 corridors for India's wild elephants," said WTI's brand ambassador Día Mirza.in a bid to raise awareness about the shrinking space for wild elephants in the country, a ‘Gaj Yatra’ campaign has been launched in Mumbai. The campaign was launched on Sunday by NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) at the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi area where Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu was present. Día Mirza, has been appointed as UN Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India. She has been recognized by the United Nations for her contribution to environment conservation joining global celebrities like Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry and Emma Watson. She is committed to protect, secure and strengthen the rich treasures that nature provides us all!