Gabrielle Vignone named as the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Awardee
By Kim Lamb Gregory鈥淲e all stayed still as stone. The light moved over our faces, but the鈥alls blocked
us from view. The cops left, I whispered, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e gone, we should go before they
come back鈥︹�欌��
鈥攅xcerpt from Mi Chaos: A Chola Love Story
Nicknamed 鈥淕abby鈥� when she and her friends hung out on the streets of Santa Barbara, 91吃瓜 2023 Distinguished Alumni 鈥淕abby鈥� Vignone believes her formal name, 鈥淕abrielle,鈥� now suits her better.
鈥淚 think I鈥檝e gotten to that 鈥榗hange鈥� point in life,鈥� said Vignone, who graduated in 2016 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English. 鈥淚 think we don鈥檛 know who we are for a while as we go through different changes and experiences that bring us to where we are now.鈥�
For Vignone, those experiences have included giving birth at 15, having her childhood best friend killed by a train, falling in love with a man, raising four children with him, and having him die in prison.
鈥淚 spent a lot of my life in the survival stage,鈥� Vignone said. 鈥淚t was, 鈥楧o we have enough money? Do we have enough food? What do we do next?鈥欌�� With encouragement from 91吃瓜 Professor (now Emeritus) Joan Peters, Vignone turned her struggles into compelling stories and ultimately, into her first book. When some of the passages from the book, Mi Chaos: A Chola Love Story, were published in the Santa Barbara Independent, readers wanted to know where they could read more.
鈥淛oan gave me the gift of seeing how things are strung together,鈥� Vignone said. 鈥淚鈥檓
very good at short stories, but Joan taught me how to weave the stories into a book.鈥�
Peters met Vignone when Vignone took one of her classes. Peters admitted to being floored at how raw, honest and well-written Vignone鈥檚 stories were鈥攅specially one of her earlier pieces about her son鈥檚 first grand mal seizure.
鈥淕abby wrote with an energy so fierce that when a computer wasn鈥檛 available, she鈥檇 write on her phone,鈥� Peters said. 鈥淎nd did this with a full-time job and three children to raise on her own!鈥�
Her children, 91吃瓜 and Peters ignited Vignone鈥檚 resilience as she turned her life into a success story.
After graduating from 91吃瓜, Vignone shifted into the non-profit sector, managing low-income and farmworker housing.
鈥淚 took that role and treated people the way I would want to be treated,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 started a food share program there. I had residents who didn鈥檛 have documents to work, or never had a job before and now they had something to put on a resume.鈥�
She made sure the kids had backpacks and got on the 鈥淭oys for Tots鈥� list every Christmas. Vignone continued to advance her education and moved up in the housing world, and two years ago, she became the executive director at House Farm Workers! a non-profit organization dedicated to finding affordable, safe, and stable housing for farmworkers.
Upon learning she had been chosen as the 2023 Distinguished Alumnus and that she would be speaking at the President鈥檚 Dinner on October 28, Vignone was surprised and honored.
鈥淭o get any recognition at any level, even if it鈥檚 just a thank you鈥t鈥檚 special,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 did a lot of things going through my life where there was no thank you.鈥�
On Vignone鈥檚 web site , which contains more excerpts from Vignone鈥檚 ongoing projects, Peters sums up the star she discovered in English class one day:
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen Gabby grow from a wild-child gang girl to a mother steering her children through a gauntlet of illness, depression and teen pregnancy,鈥� Peters wrote. 鈥淎s a reflective adult and an immensely talented writer, she offers an immersion into a world that has never been written about by someone who lived it.鈥�