NCEC in the News!
Debra Vigliano: The Theatre Entrepreneur Behind Win-Win Resolutions
Researched and written by Ethanie Walentuk
If you asked Debra Vigliano at age twelve what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have told you she wanted to be a theater teacher. Unlike most of us, her answer is the same today as it was then. She holds two degrees in theater education and has worked as a theater director for schools and community theaters for over twenty-five years. Throughout her career, she has explored audience participation plays and role-playing and their effect on youth. Vigliano has developed a unique teaching concept that combines counseling and drama to impart positive social skills and is marketing the curriculum through her company Win-Win Resolutions.
Vigliano established the nonprofit enterprise in 2001 with a mission to reduce violence and prejudice in schools and the community. Since its incorporation, Win-Win Resolutions has reached over 35,000 children and young adults with remarkable results. Win-Win students are proven to gain effective communication skills, decrease their aggression, and increase their conflict resolution skills. Schools see a significant decrease in school code violations upon completion of the course. The program is comprised of four sets of curriculum called C.R.E.W.s--Conflict Resolution Enrichment Workshops--that are audience-specific. There is a C.R.E.W. for elementary students, middle and high school students, parents and teachers, and--new for this year--a corporate workshop for businesses.
The evolution of the Win-Win Resolutions’ curriculum has been a long process. Debra Vigliano has always seen theater as a tool for building self-esteem, in part because of her own childhood experiences. She speaks with confidence that the person most instrumental to her life’s path is her middle school theater teacher. “Without her taking me under her wing, I don’t know where I’d be today,” Debra says of Mrs. Burke. With her, Vigliano attended off Broadway shows, theater in the round, and audience participation plays. She received first-hand the therapeutic benefits of theater and role-playing that she would continue to explore throughout her career.
When Vigliano completed her BFA in theater education, she began teaching with open-ended scripts that prompted her students to generate positive endings to social conflicts. A class assignment during Vigliano graduate studies at UNCG provided her with further opportunity to pursue role-playing drama in schools. Students had to write a grant--it could either be a mock application or turned in for consideration. Vigliano received the funding that she applied for and developed an elementary school curriculum dealing with bullying, name calling, peer pressure, and diversity that would become part of Win-Win Resolution’s current educational program. From that point on, the fuel for continuing the process has been enthusiast community response. The program is in demand, and funding has continued to come in.
The development of a business plan was of some difficulty for Vigliano, having majored in fine arts in college rather than business. The year she opened Win-Win Resolutions she took a masters level course at High Point University on nonprofit management that was extremely helpful. She learned how to establish a business plan, build a board, apply for funding, and get foundation support. Vigliano says there are many resources in the Triad that are of great help to nonprofit and small business owners. She has utilized the NC Center for Nonprofits, the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship in Greensboro, and other community resources to help her along the way. Most importantly, she has had support from mentors and other business owners who have been available for help and guidance. Vigliano credits Greensboro mayor Yvonne Johnson as her mentor. Mayor Johnson has experience with similar youth-oriented therapy programs and was a huge help throughout Win-Win’s early stages. Vigliano advises entrepreneurial newcomers to “do a lot of research, talk to a lot of people who’ve done this, and then let your passion drive you.”
Although she admits that in retrospect she should have taken another year to plan more extensively before opening her doors, Vigliano was able to remain dedicated to the project’s success and has prospered. Her greatest challenges have been related to funding. Ideally, she wants to reach schools with the greatest need, but she has to follow the lead of her donors. She says, “Our only limitation is the funding streams. Once that happens, the door opens; and we see outcomes in every single group we work with.” She is beginning to see a change from constantly seeking exposure and funding to being sought out by schools that want to use the program and businesses wishing to partner with her company. Her goal from this point on is the dissemination of the model to schools and other institutions nationwide.
Vigliano devotion to the children she reaches is absolute--she will continue the expansion of Win-Win Resolutions’ curriculum until her goals are achieved. Many of us would believe that youth violence and intolerance is an issue too great to be effected by the actions of one person--especially one with the artistic and creative background of a theater teacher but Debra Vigliano has proved us wrong to the benefit of many thousands of Triad kids. Her inspirational career proves that we can all create positive change while pursuing our own dreams as well.