ABOUT RAYEBIRD

 

Rayebird is mission driven clothing brand designed founded by Raye Ebensteiner as a 16-year-old high schooler. Raye believes in the influence of creativity and the power of business for good. She has been involved in an organization that has profoundly impacted her life and her life's mission. At the tender age of 13, Raye was exposed to the world of sex trafficking when she was cast as a sex trafficking victim in a PSA television commercial. She donated her talent fees, then provided the voiceover for the commercial. Embarrassed and ashamed, she told no one of this project. This experience was both traumatic and life-changing. When she learned the average age of lured victims is 12 years old, Raye decided to fight and give young women a voice. Since then, Raye has courageously advocated for Breaking Free, one of the largest (albeit still small) U.S. based non-profits dedicated to fighting "domestic" sex trafficking and rescuing survivors. She has been through their training, attended graduations of survivors who've been through reprogramming in Sisters of Survival. Raye has seen the power of art to heal souls and give a platform for a voice that needs to be heard, so she creates original apparel to give volume to those voices and provide funding for sex trafficking survivors. Currently, Raye lives i Chicago, pursuing an artistic future. She spent 2017 - 2018 traveling Southeast Asia, working with non-profits and NGOs, then traveling Europe studying cultures and studying foreign language. She's now been to 19 countries in 19 years. While Raye is often found behind the camera and doing artwork, she is also an accomplished model and actor in front of the camera.

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Watch Raye's TV commercial that started her mission:

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