Karen Phelps Moyer

Karen Phelps Moyer Co-Founder, Eluna; Philanthropist; National Child advocate; Entrepreneur

Karen Phelps Moyer is a tireless, passionate advocate for children, and widely recognized for her philanthropic work to help children in the areas of grief, addiction and suicide. Karen co-founded Eluna, a non-profit organization with a mission to provide comfort, hope and healing to children and families. Founded in 2000, Eluna has raised more than $26 million to assist hundreds of different organizations and programs that directly serve children in need. Karen founded Eluna’s Camp Erin®, the largest national network of free bereavement camps for children and teens and Camp Mariposa®, a network of camps across the U.S. focused on assisting children impacted by the substance abuse of a family member. Her leadership and commitment to supporting the whole child and wanting to reach more in need inspired Eluna’s newest initiative, The National Center for Resources and Support, which provides resources, support and referrals to families with at-risk children impacted by grief and/or family addiction. The HBO documentary “ONE LAST HUG: Three Days at Grief Camp” featuring Eluna’s Camp Erin program was awarded an Emmy® in 2014 for Outstanding Children’s Programming.

Additionally, Karen is authoring a series of children’s books, and is involved in documentaries focused on childhood grief, addiction prevention and survivors of suicide loss. As a founding and executive committee member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Karen co-led the task force that created the national guidelines for survivors of suicide loss and continues to work on changing the conversation around the issue of suicide.

Being born into sports, marrying in to sports and raising athletes, Karen launched Sisters in Sports (SIS), an online community for women which aims to provide resources, support and connection for women in sports at any level, college and pro. SIS provides support around 3 major issues, domestic violence, concussions and retirement. It’s an important resource especially supporting women and children in sports.

Karen is a contributing member to Saint Mary’s College at Notre Dame and a founding sponsor and board member of Knute Rockne Memorial society at her alma mater, The University of Notre Dame. She’s actively involved in her current home of the San Diego community, in the field of mental illness at the University of California at San Diego. She’s a member of the Board of Trustees at the IMG Academy Student-Athlete Foundation, a founding board member of Adopt Together, and most recently became an ambassador for the 2018 Special Olympics. As an entrepreneur and business owner she’s always looking for new exciting opportunities to help others in non-profit and profit sectors. She is a passionate volunteer at local women’s shelters and for international mission trips.

Karen has received numerous honors for her leadership. She is a devoted mother of eight, including two adopted daughters from Guatemala. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame (’87), she is the daughter of former Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Coach and ESPN analyst, Digger Phelps, and Teresa Godwin Phelps, an established author and activist for women’s rights who currently serves as a law professor at American University.