ABOUT IGI
International Grief Institute was founded in 2017, and is dedicated to investing in community resilience by training professionals, organizations and individuals to develop and execute programs and services that have a positive impact on their community and those who lose someone they love.
LYNDA CHELDELIN FELL, CEO
Lynda Cheldelin Fell is founding partner of the International Grief Institute, and international bestselling author of over 35 books including the award winning Grief Diaries series. With her background as a firefighter/EMT, Lynda specializes in trauma, grief, compassion fatigue, and holds a national certification in critical incident stress management and public speaking.
A popular keynote speaker and educator, Lynda is a member of the continuing education faculty at Whatcom Community College where she teaches classes on resilience, managing grief in the workplace, and compassion fatigue. To research grief’s impact on society, she has interviewed people around the world including societal figures such as Martin Luther King’s daughter, and Heaven is For Real’s Pastor Todd Burpo.
Lynda’s story began one night in 2009, when she lost her third born, her 15 year-old daughter Aly, in a car accident. Harnessing the power of storytelling coupled with her credentials, Lynda went on to create Grief Diaries Radio and Grief Diaries Live in 2014, the award-winning Grief Diaries anthology series in 2015 with 35 titles in print, hosted the National Grief & Hope Convention in 2015, and founded the International Grief Institute in 2017.
Lynda’s training in compassion fatigue, debriefing, trauma, and grief support is utilized by hospice organizations, funeral industry, state conferences, and international conventions with students ranging from the UK to New Zealand.
She has earned seven national literary awards and six national advocacy award nominations for her work.