Hugh Evans (right), founder of Global Citizen, is reunited with Sonny Boy in Manila, the Philippines CNBC

Growing up in suburban Melbourne, Australia, humanitarian Hugh Evans knew he led a privileged life. But that all changed almost 20 years ago on a trip to the Philippines Evans embarked on as a teenager, after he won a fundraising competition. In 1998 he stayed with a family that lived in a Manila slum, befriending Sonny Boy, a teen about his age. "We went to his small shanty hut that was built on top of the rubbish dump (called) Smoky Mountain… and we went out exploring around just me and Sonny Boy. And everything looked gigantic to me. These houses were built on top of each other, it was a slum community that was cramped," Evans told CNBC's "The Brave Ones." Evans spent the night with the Filipino family, where he and six others lay next to each other on a concrete slab.

Sonny Boy and Hugh Evans in Manila, the Philippines in 1998 Courtesy of Hugh Evans

"And just lying there that night, it struck me that it was pure chance that I was born in Australia and Sonny Boy was born there. We don't deserve or have no entitlement to the lottery of life that we have. And so it struck me that night that this was going to become much bigger and much more important for me. I had to do something." Evans subsequently founded Global Citizen, an organization aiming to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. He lost touch with Sonny Boy after returning to Australia, but following a TED talk he gave in February 2016 mentioning his time in Manila, a local charity put the pair back in touch. They met during filming of the latest episode of "The Brave Ones." "It's funny how a moment, a night can have such a huge impact on your life. For me, that night in 1998 here in the Philippines, here in Manila was undoubtedly one of the most important moments of my whole life," he said.

Hugh Evans, founder of Global Citizen CNBC