The Wooden Floor

The Wooden Floor's Mission is to inspire and transform the lives of young people through the power of dance and access to higher education.

Founded in 1983, TWF is one of the foremost creative youth development organizations in the country. Our year-round programs support socioeconomically marginalized youth as they build the skills to thrive in school, in higher education, and in future careers. TWF’s long-term approach, grounded in exploratory Dance Education and Performance, fosters confidence and gifts within each child to innovate, communicate, and collaborate—skills necessary for the 21st century workforce

TWF’s innovative somatic-based Dance Education program is the core transformational element through which TWF youth change the way they think about themselves and discover how to pursue their full potential. Our strategically integrated Academic, College and Career Readiness programs, combined with 10 years of mentoring from elementary school through college, ensure students have the fundamental academic and life skills to access and succeed in higher education. Lastly, to actively engage parents, TWF’s Family Services programs take a case management approach to help foster a family context in which young people can thrive. These core programs comprise our creative youth development model and copyrighted Theory of Change.

The Wooden Floor transforms the lives of young people from low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education. Recent accomplishments:
1) Since 2005, 100% of our senior class members have enrolled in higher education, a rate twice that of socioeconomic peers. 90% are the first in their families to attend college.
2) Over 150 alumni are in colleges/universities across the U.S., achieving a college degree attainment rate of 54% (2020), compared to 12%, the national rate for low-income peers. (National Education Statistics)
3) We measure impact annually and through our pioneering Longitudinal Study 2014-2024: Using Dance as a Developmental Catalyst. The same students are surveyed every other year; results are analyzed by our partner/external evaluator Dr. Mark Runco. Surveys provide indicators that our students outperform socioeconomic peers across a spectrum of developmental and academic benchmarks. Early Longitudinal Study data was featured in Arts Evaluation and Assessment: Measuring Impacts in Schools and Communities, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
4) In 2020, TWF completed a 4-year comprehensive campaign raising $20.2M to support expansion to two Santa Ana locations to serve more students locally, deepen our services, begin college and career planning earlier, and build upon our Endowment Fund. Current goals: In January 2021, we launched strategic planning for Chapter One: Strategic Plan 2021-2023 of our Strategic Vision 2021-2031: “To drive social innovation, grow impact and uplift our community.” This 10-year vision is about growing impact with focus on growing our results, expanding community partnerships, and advocacy in the nonprofit and creative youth development fields. The next three year priorities include: • Meet today’s needs, with a plan-ahead mindset • Leverage data and technology to deepen impact for students, parents and alumni, and digital equity • Focus on long-term sustainability as we emerge from the pandemic

The Wooden Floor 2026-2027 areas of greatest programmatic need:

1. Students develop a valuable skill set, known as the “6Cs”: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Character and Courage – skills necessary to succeed in school, in life, and in the 21st century workforce, which is changing rapidly with the evolution of artificial intelligence.

2. Academic support through individualized tutoring to continue remediation of learning loss caused by the
lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as incorporating artificial intelligence ethics, training, and usage
programming into workshops and curriculum.

3. Academic advising and social-emotional mentoring to prepare students for the transition from high school to college even more successfully, and preparing them to navigate higher education with the skills and confidence to reach their goals.

4. Integrated Family Services with expanded mental health programming to ensure students thrive
personally and academically within the family context. Developing parenting skills training and workshops
to help parents overcome challenges, with an emphasis on technology usage, social media access, and
cyber-bullying support for their children.

The Wooden Floor is located in Santa Ana, California, and serves youth and their families in Central Orange County. Approximately 66% of our students and families live in Santa Ana; 34% live in low-income neighborhoods in 15 surrounding cities.

Thank you for your interest in learning more about The Wooden Floor. We provide an opportunity for children to learn, grow, connect, and even thrive through change through our innovative dance education approach that is strategically integrated with academics, college and career readiness, as well as family services. Through our Annual Survey assessment of students and families, they shared: A sense of belonging and that they know they are supported at The Wooden Floor and in their social, emotional, and academic well-being; An ability to navigate challenging times better than others in their community, as compared to their socio-economic peers. Due to the generosity of our community of supporters, parents are equipped to help their children at home and at school. We have so much to be proud of, including what we are accomplishing as we emerge post-pandemic. While there are many unknowns, we are emboldened to forge ahead by the fact that a loving community of supporters continues to work tirelessly by our side, each day, to keep the promise we make to our students: from here you can step anywhere.

With gratitude,

Dawn S. Reese, Chief Executive Officer

On behalf of the Board of Directors and our staff, I would like to thank you for your interest in The Wooden Floor. The Wooden Floor’s new mission statement is to inspire and transform the lives of young people through the power of dance and access to higher education. It speaks to our organization’s solid foundation that we provide to our students and their families; it speaks to our positive influence and leadership in our community; and most of all, it speaks to the uplifting beacon of hope that we become when we unite behind helping one another. Since our founding in 1983, The Wooden Floor has served more than 100,000 young people through our year-round programs, Dance Free Weeks, Dance Uplifts, and community engagement efforts. We have evolved from a ballet summer pilot project for 40 students, and we have grown over four decades into a holistic, creative youth development organization, which has received recognition both nationally and internationally. As The Wooden Floor launches into our fifth decade of impact, our process of setting a 10-year Strategic Vision and aligning strategic plans to work toward the vision has been transformational. The Board of Directors and staff are dedicated to using our Strategic Vision 2021- 2031 to move our organization forward, much like dance moves our students forward. We hope that you will join us to find ways that you can make a meaningful difference in The Wooden Floor’s evolving mission. Please feel free to schedule a visit Dawn S. Reese, Chief Executive Officer, of The Wooden Floor at (714) 541-8314 or Info@TheWoodenFloor.org.

Sincerely,

Sasha Ayloush
Chair of the Board of Directors,
The Wooden Floor