This’desi girl ‘took the world by storm over and over again. From winning Miss World in 2000, becoming one of Bollywood’s most sought-after actresses, breaking down barriers and becoming a household name in American television, as well as in Hollywood.
This icon has been the talk of the town for his projects, his singing, his marriage to Nick Jonas, as well as his philanthropic work over the years. With over 58 million Instagram followers, she is an influencer and trailblazer, often seen supporting women, causes and more.
Here’s a look at 20 times she made India proud, along with women around the world.
This year, she and her husband Nick are supporting the Food holiday campaign launched by Lauren Bush. The goal is to provide more than 300,000 school meals to children in need across countries.
In 2016, the actor was named in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People issue alongside Mark Zuckerberg and Leonardo DiCaprio.
She was appointed UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador for Children’s Rights in 2016 and has been the UNICEF Ambassador to India for years.
In an interview, when asked about her position on feminism, she said: “We are not meant to be equal, but we are meant to have equal opportunity, that’s important. We agree, girl!
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she and her husband Nick have donated an undisclosed amount to 10 charities, including the Citizen’s Aid and Emergency Relief Fund of Prime Minister (PM-CARES), UNICEF, Goonj, Doctors Without Borders, No Kid Hungry, and SAG-AFTRA to assist relief efforts.
Early in her career, she established the Priyanka Chopra Health and Education Foundation, which works to provide education and medical care to young girls. The former Bareilly girl donates 10% of her income to the foundation.
In 2015, she started her own production house with mum Madhu Chopra with a focus on regional cinema.
She fiercely kept her “patriotic” feelings on a tweet amid tensions between India and Pakistan over the LoC. When called upon to promote “nuclear war between India and Pakistan” she tweeted: “War is not something I really like, but I am patriotic.”
Priyanka is an Assam Brand Ambassador and has been involved in several tourism support initiatives in the state. Earlier this year, when the state faced devastating flooding, she donated money for relief measures and also urged her fans to do the same.
In 2018, she helped and launched Holberton School – a coding education company that teaches software development.
She is spokesperson for the United Nations Girl on top campaign and an ambassador for Girl going up, the global campaign for women’s education.
She invests in the dating and networking app Bumble which focuses on empowering women.
In 2017, she traveled to Zimbabwe to speak with child survivors of sexual violence.
She gently made a sexist remark about her friend Meghan Markle. On The Wendy Williams (When PC made an appearance in 2017), host Wendy Williams introduced Meghan Markle as Prince Harry’s girlfriend, when PC was quick to set the record straight with “also Meghan Markle, actress , Suits ”.
As a UNICEF Ambassador, Priyanka has been associated with the Deepshikha campaign, which has helped approximately 70,000 girls and young women in Maharashtra to acquire entrepreneurial skills and build self-confidence through financial education and leadership.
In addition to focusing on children’s rights, Priyanka also advocates for environmental nonprofits whose work helps developing countries improve their lives. She was a brand ambassador for NDTV’s Greenathon, which works to help provide rural villages with environmentally friendly and sustainable electrical supplies.
It has partnered with a major shoe brand to donate more than 50,000 pairs of shoes to school children in Belize in the Caribbean.
She pledged her support for “Beauty Without Boundaries 2020” – a global online auction of works of art by underprivileged Indian children. The auction will feature more than 20 works of art created by underprivileged children in Mumbai who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Fellow Padma Shri donated $ 72,000 to Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai for a cancer ward. This room is named after his father and was inaugurated in 2013.
She also completed her memoir and her essay book Unfinished which is available for pre-order now.
From a small town girl to the Miss World stage, to the glamorous world of fashion and cinema, to singing and now as a writer she has really accomplished quite a bit. and it looks like nothing is stopping it.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)
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