The Creative Visions Foundation: A Launchpad for Creative Activists

Part incubator, part agency, and part academy, the Creative Visions Foundation (CVF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and inspiring creative activists – individuals who use media and the arts to spur real change in the world around them. Headquartered in California, CVF was inspired by the life of artist, adventurer, and activist Dan Eldon, who was killed in Somalia in 1993 while covering the conflict as a Reuters photojournalist. In 1998, his mother Kathy Eldon and sister Amy Eldon Turtletaub started the Creative Visions Foundation to honor his legacy and to assist people like Dan who create meaningful change in the world around them through media and the arts.



Since then, CVF has incubated over 100 projects and productions on 5 continents. The foundation connects creative activists to mentors, strategic partnerships, funding and distribution channels, and a myriad other tools and resources. By creating a community between those on the ground and those who can help, CVF has assisted its creative activists in raising more than $11.2 million for their projects and reaching over 90 million people worldwide.

To carry out its mission, the Creative Visions Foundation runs three programs: the Creative Activist Program (CAP), Rock Your World, and the Dan Eldon Project. CAP supports up to 75 creative activist projects by providing essential guidance and resources such as fiscal sponsorship, strategic networking, access to CVF's funding partners and network of industry-leading mentors, and seminars and educational programs. Rock Your World is an innovative project-based curriculum targeted at middle and high school students that engages them in real world issues. The program inspires youth to ask questions about the challenges they see locally and globally, then guides them through a process of researching an issue and creating an “action campaign” to address it. Last but not least, the Dan Eldon Project offers exhibitions of Dan's art, products inspired by his art, and educational programs.