Raven-Symon Christina Pearman (born December 10, 1985) known professionally as Raven-Symon or simply Raven, is an American actress, R&B and pop singer-songwriter, best known for her roles as Olivia Kendall in The Cosby Show, Galleria Garibaldi in The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2 and as Raven Baxter in her own show, That's So Raven. Raven-Symon is also a television producer, producing the final season of That's So Raven as well as her movies College Road Trip and The Cheetah Girls 2. Raven-Symon also owns a "how-to" video website, which is also used as her official website.In 2002, Raven-Symon auditioned for a role on an up and coming series for The Disney Channel titled Absolutely Psychic about a teenager with psychic abilities.[citation needed] Initially Raven-Symon was cast as the role of the best friend. But after being reviewed, Disney executives decided to cast Raven-Symon as the lead character Raven Baxter and change the series name to That's So Raven. That's So Raven debuted on January 17, 2003. It is Disney Channel's highest-rated and longest-running series. It spawned Disney's most successful franchise, including soundtracks, dolls, episode DVDs, and video games. In 2005 and 2007, the show was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Children's Program." The show also was the first show in Disney history to have a spin-off, Cory in the House. Raven-Symon lived in Alpharetta Georgia and went to Webb Bridge Middle School.

In 2003, Raven-Symon starred as lead singer Galleria Garibaldi in The Cheetah Girls. The Cheetah Girls is a Disney Channel Original Movie which is about four city girls who have dreams of becoming superstars. The movie was Disney Channel's first musical and sprawed a massive franchise, much like That's So Raven, including dolls, video games platnuim soundtracks, and more.