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, The Wooden Floor is one of the foremost creative youth development nonprofit organizations in the country. We transform the lives of young people in low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education. In Orange County and through national licensed partners, we use a long-term approach grounded in exploratory dance education to foster the confidence and gifts within each child to innovate, communicate, and collaborate – skills necessary for success in school and in life. 100 percent of students who graduate from The Wooden Floor immediately enroll in higher education. Our students become change agents and beacons of hope within their own families, their neighborhoods, our community, and our world. Our comprehensive strategy and mentoring relationships that last up to 10 years, give youth the tools and guidance to overcome difficult socioeconomic hardships. The Wooden Floor’s holistic model serves at-risk students year-round, after-school with dance, academic, college and career readiness, and family programs, free of charge. Dance education and performance are core transformational elements through which our youth change the way they think about themselves and develop the ability to reach their full potential. In the dance studio, a rigorous 10-level curriculum develops self-knowledge, which evolves into self-confidence, leadership, cooperative learning, creative problem solving, and joy. Rehearsals, dance-making, and performances–such as Annual Concert–teach discipline, goal-setting, commitment, and achievement through hard work. Through Dance Free Weeks, we serve 3,000 low-income youth in elementary schools each fall through five hours of dance education and a culminating performance for their peers. Academic, College and Career Readiness programs ensure our students have fundamental academic and life skills to succeed. Our Family Services take a case management approach to counseling, crisis intervention, and social service referrals to help families overcome socioeconomic hardships and navigate a path toward economic progress and self-sufficiency. These core programs comprise our creative youth development model and copyrighted Theory of Change. 39 years experience yield outstanding outcomes: since 2005, 100% of graduates from The Wooden Floor have enrolled in college, at a rate more than twice the national average for their peers. Alumni currently in college are studying business, engineering, education, social services, medicine and the arts.

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 2025-2026 areas of greatest programmatic need:
1. Expand academic support through individualized tutoring to remediate lost learning due to pandemic-required school closures, help students regain core subject proficiencies, and sustain on-time grade-level promotion.
2. Further develop academic advising, case management, and social-emotional mentoring curriculum to keep students engaged in school and on-track for college and career readiness.
3. Expand mental health programming to ensure that our students continue to thrive and make forward progress, personally and academically. This goal responds to research informing TWF’s Strategic Vision 2021-2031 that calls on youth serving organizations to increase mental health supports and education to meet rising need.

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.

As Artistic Director Jennifer Bassage Bonfil and I collaborated on our 42nd Annual Concert title, we thoughtfully reflected on our organization’s journey as well as the themes emerging from the three dance pieces our students co-created to craft the title. Curious Currents of Possibilities evokes a sense of movement, discovery, and transformation, all of which are integral components of our Annual Concert and our organization’s work as a whole.

The word “curious” speaks to both wonder and the courage our students exhibit daily, from actively engaging in their dance education, to many going on to become the first in their family to attend college. “Currents” suggests the continuous flow of energy, relationships, and growth. “Possibilities” highlights the boundless potential that emerges when we embrace change, lean into our strengths, and navigate life’s unfolding journey. Rather than following a single pre-determined path, we recognize through the strategic foresight learnings that we are embarking on as an organization, that the future is not fixed. Curious Currents of Possibilities invites us to consider how the opportunities around us, both small and large, shape who we are and who we might become.

An alumna of The Wooden Floor recently shared with me what she really admires about our organization is that we are a “living organism” that continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of the students and their families. How we evolve to meet the needs of our community is an exciting thought, so much of which rests on you, our loving community of supporters, who choose to continuously invest in our students and mission. With you by our side, we ensure our students have the social, emotional, and academic wellness as well as important life skills required to succeed today in the 21st-century economy and world.

Many students share that their participation at The Wooden Floor’s year-round programs, and in our Annual Concert is a transformative opportunity to learn about themselves, increase their understanding of others with empathy, and build their confidence, which they can apply both in school and in life. It is why we know that Dance Is The Answer®.

With gratitude,

Dawn S. Reese
Chief Executive Officer

It has been a true honor to serve my first year as Chair of The Wooden Floor's Board of Directors, and during such a strategically important time for our organization.

As you may know, we are firmly in the middle of our 10-Year Strategic Vision 2021-2031 to: Drive Social Innovation, Grow Impact, and Uplift Our Community. We characterize our strategic plans as chapters in a book to guide us in reaching our strategic vision, and to me, the middle of a book is where determination is deepened, where values are strengthened, and where courage is formed.
Our current strategic plan is aptly titled Chapter Two 2024-2026: Building Upon Our Strengths. Thriving With Purpose. This chapter was created through community-listening, research, and consulting with education experts to ensure our students are future-ready by addressing the increasing need for AI literacy and technology education. We will also ensure our organization is well-prepared to navigate opportunities by developing strategic foresight to enhance design thinking practices and innovation. These are just two of the many goals within our exciting middle chapter.

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.

Sincerely,

Jehan Jayakumar
Chair of the Board of Directors,
The Wooden Floor