James Donaldson, Deeya named brand ambassador of Sukarya

Former basketball player James Donaldson and Indian mountaineer Deeya Suzannah Bajai were on Friday named the global brand ambassadors of Sukarya, a women-centric NGO.

Donaldson, the former NBA star from Seattle, USA, has played for NBA for almost two decades, while Deeya has successfully climbed six out of the seven highest peaks, including the Mount Everest.

"I have always tried to make men and women speak up about their mental health issues, that's why I started 'Gift of Life Foundation'," said the 62-year-old Donaldson, who is also a motivational speaker and author of the book 'Standing above the crowd'.

"My work on mental health issues, it fits well with what Sukarya is doing. It is a perfect marriage of two organisation of what we can do together. We can go far together, create a legacy," he added.

Deeya, who scaled the world's highest peak Mt. Everest, along with her father Ajeet Bajaj, a Padma Shri Awardee, said Sukarya is the right platform for her dream of working for the under-privileged women and children in the country.

"Sukarya is doing a lot of good work and I would like to champion their cause and spread awareness about the issues related to women and children and hopefully help them to raise funds," said Deeya, who alongwith Ajeet Bajaj, became the first daughter-father duo to climb the Mt Everest last year.

"Today I visited one of their sites in Vasant Vihar for 'Education on Wheels' initiative. It was fantastic to see the under-privileged kids, who can't afford education, getting some sort of access."