Michelle Rigby

Michelle Rigby has spent her life working with, serving, and loving kids. As the mother of six and the grandmother of 4, she has her hands full - but she always holds a special place in her heart for that one person that needs some extra love, attention, or a listening ear. Over the years, she has been instrumental in organizing girls camps, youth conferences, cultural celebrations and youth choirs. While working so closely with young people, she began noticing trends of disconnection, depression, anxiety, loneliness, suicide, bullying, and addiction that were extremely concerning. Perhaps it was serendipitous that in 2018 she crossed paths with Collin Kartchner, a man who felt called to make a difference in kids' lives by spreading the message to put down digital devices and start living real life. His message resonated with Michelle and she felt compelled to do whatever it took to get him to her community and to spread his message of hope. On her own dime, she brought him out to speak at a community event in Gilbert, AZ - and it was even more of a hit than she imagined. It was obvious that this message was resonating with both parents and children alike. After the presentation she conspired with Collin to start the non-profit Save the Kids foundation and to facilitate the spread of this important message to more schools and communities across the US and Canada. Over the next 3 years they expanded as a team and were able to bring the message of connection to hundreds and thousands of young minds and hearts as well as their parents. Unfortunately, Collin passed away in November of 2020 due to an unknown heart condition. This left Michelle with a broken heart, and 2 years of scheduled presentations without the dynamic presence of Collin Kartchner to give them. At the family's request, she began to organize a huge celebration of life for Collin near his family home in Lehi, Utah. At the celebration, she became determined to carry on the message of positivity that Collin brought to the world. In February 2021, she created the Looking Up Foundation with the intention of bringing more voices, more experience, and a huge abundance of hope to a world that is crying out for connection. Michelle has spoken to hundreds of youth sharing the message that "Life is Looking Up" both literally by looking up from our devices, and metaphorically by looking up from the bad things that happen in life, she hopes to change the world one heart and one life at a time.