From Tragedy to Triumph: Kathy Eldon on Creative Visions Foundation and Finding Blue Sky After Loss

Kathy Eldon's son, Dan Eldon, was a young photojournalist working for Reuters in Somalia when he was killed at just 22 years old while documenting a famine and its aftermath. Rather than let that loss define her, Kathy and her daughter Amy founded Creative Visions Foundation in 1998 to support artists, journalists, and storytellers using media to inspire positive change. The foundation has since incubated hundreds of projects — including the Oscar-winning documentary Navalny — and its work has reached more than 100 million people across five continents.

In this candid and moving conversation, Kathy opens up about:

How Dan's early humanitarian instincts led him from fundraising for a child's heart surgery in Kenya to documenting the Somali famine as a photojournalist

The chaotic, tragic circumstances of Dan's death, and the making of the Emmy-nominated documentary Dying to Tell the Story

The real and growing dangers facing journalists covering conflicts today

Creative Visions Foundation's Impact Media and Impact Education initiatives, including a multi-million dollar partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation

The Angel Catcher journal series she created with Amy, which has helped grieving readers (and hospices) process loss for over 20 years

Her new project, Boundless, born out of COVID isolation and the trauma of the LA wildfires

Her belief in signs and guidance from beyond — including an encounter with a psychic medium months after Dan's death

Her advice for anyone facing profound grief: channel that energy into something that helps others

This is a story about finding blue sky above even the darkest clouds — and using creativity, purpose, and community to transform unimaginable loss into a legacy of hope.

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