Skip to content

Success: Sudbury has given much to Bela Ravi, and she gives back

Bela Ravi and husband Dr. Grama Ravi came to Sudbury almost 50 years ago; Bela has become known locally for her volunteerism

In the 1990s, Bela Ravi started her first volunteering experience with the school that her daughter attended at the time. 

One of her first volunteer efforts came about after Renee Sweeney was murdered in 1998, and the fleeing suspect had made his way to the nearby schoolgrounds. 

Ravi recognized the dangers in the open, non-gated environment that the school had at the time. She promptly started her first fundraising campaign to have the school fenced for safety,  and since then, she has never stopped serving the community of Sudbury. 

Ravi most recently received an honorary doctorate from Huntington University where she was named chancellor in 2020. 

On the stage of the convocation ceremony, the degree was presented to her by Mary-Liz Warwick, chair of the Huntington University Board of Regents, and Kevin McCormick, president and vice chancellor of Huntington University. 

McCormick was also the one who asked Ravi to be a part of the team at Huntington University. 

“I got a call from Dr. Kevin McCormick and he suggested it (to be chancellor at Huntington University) and it was a surprise shock,” Ravi told Sudbury.com over a phone interview. 

“It was during COVID in 2020 when they came knocking and it was such an honor to be a part of it. And I look back at all these people like Ted Conroy being the Chancellor and other people and I'm thinking about being a part of that group. I just couldn't believe that they asked me.”

Although, it’s clear to anyone else why Ravi deserves the honorary doctorate. 

Ravi serves as president of the Sudbury Multicultural & Folk Arts Association and sits as a board member for such organizations as the Local Immigration Partnership and the India-Canada Association. 

She is also a member of the City of Greater Sudbury’s Senior Advisory Panel, past co-chair of the Institute of Canadian Citizenship, past fundraising committee member for Elgin Street Mission, and a past board member of the Ontario Arts Council and the YMCA Northeastern Ontario-Fund Development Committee.

“I do this because I love to give back,” Ravi said.

“My husband (local physician Dr. Grama Ravi) started his practice here. This was the place he started practicing medicine. This is the place that has given us what we have for our girls. It was our way of giving back to the community that gave us so much.”

Ravi thanks her family — her husband and three daughters — for their support in her endless acts of volunteering. Ravi also said she took inspiration from her mother who frequently volunteered for the community as well.

She currently sits on the board for Cambrian College to help foreign students, especially those from India, adjust to the new environment. This was an important initiative to be a part of for Ravi. 

“I was a newcomer (here) at one point in time. And I wish these things (programs to help immigrants settle in) were in place when I came because I was lonely and depressed back then,” she said. Ravi had immigrated to Canada in 1973 with her parents but arrived to Sudbury in 1995 her husband and children. 

“We came here in February 1973. It’ll be our 50 years next year, and I remember I wanted to go back to India, because the support system wasn't there. And you come here and it's very cold in February, for one thing. And it was really hard fitting in Sudbury, and Sudbury was really bad for racial problems at that time,” Ravi said. 

“So I thought I had gone through it and I was determined to have my kids never see a day like that…And so for me, It's about making things better for others, and my future generations.”

Eden Suh is a reporter at Sudbury.com. Success is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.