Ryan Hreljac

Canadian activist Ryan Hreljac is the founder of the Ryan’s Well Foundation globally recognised for bringing clean water and sanitation to millions. He is the youngest person in history to be honoured with the Order of Ontario and has also won countless other awards including the Top 20-Under-20 Youth Award, the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal and the World of Children’s Founder Award. Hreljac has been recognised by CNN as a CNN Hero and his work has appeared in numerous books and magazines including People Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Christian Science Monitor and Time. He has appeared as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, has been invited to Buckingham Palace by Prince Edward and has worked with Dr Jane Goodall on several projects.

Born in Kemptville, Ontario, Hreljac was only six years old when he learned in school about the difficulties accessing clean water by many people in Africa. He began trying to raise cash for those affected by the global water crisis, starting off by doing household chores for money, then doing more fun-raising. Within twelve months he had raised $2,000 and donated the money to non-profit organisation WaterCan, who then drilled the first well in northern Uganda. Hreljac then went on to raise $61,000 within 2 years, his efforts matched by $2 for every dollar that he raised by The Canadian International Development Agency, and he began to become well known for his inspirational fundraising, appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show to tell his story.

In 2001 he founded the Ryan’s Well Foundation with the aim to educate children in Africa about safe water and sanitation and to build more sanitation projects in the continent. Since then the foundations has brought clean water to nearly 900,000 people in 16 developing countries in Africa, South Asia and Central America.