Kathy Kieliszewski

About

As Executive Editor for Innovation at Bridge Michigan, Kathy is responsible for reaching new audiences through engagement and events and using visuals to tell stories in unique ways. Kathy joined Bridge in the fall of 2024 after nearly 22 years at the Detroit Free Press, where she led the photo and video efforts for the newsroom. During her time at the Free Press, Kathy won four national Emmy Awards and was part of the USA Today Network team that won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism. She has also produced numerous films including 12TH AND CLAIRMOUNT, a full-length documentary that looks back at the Detroit rebellion of 1967, and the feature-length documentary THE WALL, an outgrowth of the Pulitzer Prize-winning multimedia story, and COLDWATER KITCHEN which goes inside a Michigan prison where a dedicated chef’s gourmet culinary training program gives incarcerated men new skills — and new hope. Kathy also co-founded Freep Film Festival, the Free Press' annual documentary-focused film festival in Detroit. She served as the festival’s artistic director for 11 years. In 2019, Kathy was named Editor of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association. Before joining the Free Press as an editor, Kathy spent ten years as a photojournalist at various newspapers around Michigan.