Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Debra Des Vignes is the founder and Executive Director of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop (IPWW), a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals through the power of creative writing. Launched in 2018 after her decade-long career as a crime reporter, IPWW began as a single 12-week class inside one Indiana prison and has since expanded across eight correctional facilities in multiple states. Through writing, reflection, and community, Debra is giving people behind bars a chance to reclaim their voices—and their futures—one story at a time.
The PM Podcast