Raymond Ablack

Achieving far more than most people his age, Raymond Ablack is a successful actor, speaker and activist. He is an inspiring example to any young person with big dreams and a desire to make the world a better place.
Best known for his role as Sav Bhandari on the internationally acclaimed and globally syndicated television series Degrassi: The Next Generation, his face is seen by millions in more than 80 countries. He is also well-known for his role as Simba in the stage production of The Lion King.
In the summer of 2007, he and seven of his Degrassi castmates travelled to Kenya to build a primary school for second graders—Raymond’s first independent trip outside North America. Faced with culture shock and the reality of poverty, and driven by the need to do something, he joined Free The Children as an outreach speaker between seasons of his show, spreading the knowledge of what he had seen to other youth and urging them to make change.
After speaking to youth at schools for six months, Raymond went on to address 7,500 students at Free The Children’s first Me to We Day in October 2007, and another 8,000 in October 2008.
That same year, Raymond embarked on another volunteer trip with Me to We Trips, this time to Ecuador, which offered him a broader understanding of poverty-related issues and spurred him to continue working with Me to We to share his words and experiences with this powerful social movement.