Founder & Executive Director, Kids Who Care, Inc., 1989-2024
A native of Texas, growing up in DFW, Deborah received her BA in Theatre from Trinity University in San Antonio studying with theatre maverick and visionary Paul Baker and Lessac specialist Frances Swinny. Growing up surrounded by an entrepreneur family, it is not a surprise that Mrs. Jung founded her own company, Kids Who Care, in 1987 and now directs, consults, and teaches both performing arts and entrepreneurism through KidPower Leadership.
Jung joined the Resident Co. at Casa Manana Playhouse following graduation from Trinity. Directing and/or appearing in over 75 productions, Jung’s roles ranged from Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother to Hamlet’s Ophelia, with directing credits embedded in the children’s classics including Charlotte’s Web, Jungle Book, The Littlest Angel, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
When Producer/Director Sharon Benge founded Fort Worth Shakespeare in the Park, Deborah served as the Company Manager and Director of the Shakespeare Summer Acting Institute. In 1988, Deborah was certified with the Creative Drama Network out of UT Austin and connected her work to Child Life @ Cook Children’s Medical Center. As a playwright and director, Mrs. Jung has always sought out special populations including Mental Health Mental Retardation, The Samaritan House AIDS Outreach for Families, Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center, Texas Gifted and Talented,
Mrs. Jung brought Kids Who Care into Fort Worth’s Cultural District in 1989 with her associate Lorie Diaz. Quickly forming the Kids Who Care Touring Co. and a theatre school after a successful international summer musical theatre camp, the new non-profit incubated at the William E. Scott Theatre under the umbrella of FW Theatre through the generosity of FWT Director/Producer Bill Garber. From 1989-2024, through Kids Who Care, Deborah and Lorie awarded over $1,350,000 in Hope Scholarships to students across DFW to ensure access to the arts and an entrepreneurship business education for all children.
Jung’s signature stage direction became part of the KWC brand of large casts of all ages with the adult roles always played by adults and the hero or heroine of the story always a Kid! Any KWC production was described by Deborah as a combination of where “Disney meets Shakespeare, The Hallmark Hall of Fame, Peter Paul, and Mary, and the Muppets.”
The Family Season directed by Diaz and Jung began in December 1989 with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Productions at the Scott include Matilda,Annie, West Side Story, The Little Mermaid, A Christmas Story, Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, Narnia, Shrek, The Wizard of Oz, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, and the beloved Christmas Carol.
Under Deborah’s direction Kids Who Care produced Family Concerts with Peter Yarrow, Trout Fishing in America, Sara Hickman, Inca Son, Eddie Coker, and Joseph Vincelli.
KWC hosted over 1,100 international students between 1989-2024 as part of the July International Kids Who Care Summer Co. Reaching an annual audience of 35,000-40,000, the Kids Who Care Touring Co. performed in venues in New York, Los Angeles, Italy, Germany, Albania, Washington D.C., Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Orlando, Nashville, across Texas, previewing Off-Broadway at the Lamb’s Theatre and People’s Improv Theatre, with appearances at the Kennedy Center, Bass Hall, The Meyerson Symphony Hall, Disneyland, and most uniquely, at “30,000 feet in the air” on the American Airlines Wish Flight.
Deborah introduced KidPower Leadership in 1989 to KWC’s Board of Directors and Staff for development and planning sessions. In 1993, Mrs. Jung’s signature for Staff and Board Development was further developed into an entrepreneur business curriculum for Kids built alongside and embedded into KWC’s arts education.
In 2000, Mrs. Jung began to offer Kid Power Leadership workshops for corporations, schools, and other non-profit staffs. Organizations engaging Deborah for Staff Development and Board planning include Texas Christian University Rickel Center, Cuisine for Healing, Cook Children’s Medical Center, Tarrant Area Council of Churches, J. Taylor Associates, Care and Prepare, The Junior League of Fort Worth, Theatre Arlington, Circle Theatre, and San Angelo Broadway Kids.
In 2024, Kids Who Care celebrated 35 years in the William E. Scott Theatre. In March of 2025 as the Scott Theatre closed its doors for redevelopment, Kids Who Care paused its’ year-round operations. As a writer, consultant, director, and producer, Deborah continues to share her leadership model and unique directing style with long-time local, U.S., and global partners.
Deborah has been married to Dexter Jung since 1977, has 2 grown sons living in Fort Worth, Chad and Blake, 2 beautiful daughter-in-laws, Sarah and Rebecca, four grandsons, Riley, Carter, Wyatt, and Graham, and a Vizsla named Daisy.
Special Recognition received by Deborah Jung from the FW Community: In 2007 The Great Women of Texas / 2008 Legacy of Women Award Recipient for the Arts / The Live Theatre League Educator of the Year Award / The Live Theatre League Lifetime Achievement / 2018 The Arts Council of Fort Worth Heart of Gold Recipient / 2019 The Fort Worth Business Press C-Suite Awards / 2024 The Tarrant County Education Foundation Arts Entrepreneur Award / The Holloway Foundation Visionary Leadership Award. Deborah was appointed to Mortar Board and Who’s Who in American Colleges while at Trinity University.
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