up dance NEWS FROM THE WOODEN FLOOR
Xitlalli finds connectedness, pg. 8
Making a toast to Keep the Promiseâ„¢, pg. 10
18
F A L L
Celebrating 35 years of lifting lives, pg. 6
danceup
Dawn S. Reese Chief Executive Officer @DawnSReese
Catalyst for Change When we’re faced with social sector challenges in Orange County such as poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, and education opportunity gaps, it becomes clear that these are very complex issues. We must bring innovative solutions and a discipline to implementing best practices around design-thinking, collaboration, exceptional execution, and continual impact evaluation. Where does innovation and the social sector converge? This is what leaders in the field call social innovation. For over 35 years, a steadfast and compassionate community of Board of Directors, staff, and supporters have worked fearlessly to help the organization evolve into one of the nation's leading social innovators and one of the foremost creative youth development nonprofit organizations in the country. For this, we were featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review Magazine in 2017, and recently nominated by Orange County Business Journal for the 2018 Innovator of the Year Award. Listening and learning are integral to innovation and due to our holistic, student-centered approach, we are provided with a unique lens to be a part of county-wide forums on K-12 education to close the achievement gap and meet workforce development trends in the time of burgeoning artificial intelligence. The one through-line in these forums is to prepare under-served children to achieve social and economic equity in an ever-evolving, automated, and creativeeconomy. As we look to the future, it is clear that The Wooden Floor's outcomes align perfectly with the Orange County Department of Education's goal to foster the 5 Cs of Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Character in order to prepare students for their futures. At The Wooden Floor, we strive to foster a sixth C: Courage. Our outcomes will be further validated by our own 10-year Longitudinal Study 2014-2024 titled: From here you can step anywhere - Dance as a Developmental Catalyst. We must be focused and intentional about how our student programming advances these traits and skill sets to prepare our students for the “Fourth Industrial Revolution� workforce wherein humanity intersects with artificial intelligence. We believe when dance is a catalyst for change, innovation flourishes into courageous life changing outcomes for the children we serve, and moves The Wooden Floor's exciting mission forward, which helps move our community forward. With gratitude,
2
Mission
Moment
S A g s t h
The Wooden Floor
Seniors from our Class of 2018 celebrate at our 6th Step Beyond Annual BreakfastÂŽ. The Class of 2018 is our 14th consecutive graduating class to have 100 percent of students finish high school on time and immediately enroll in higher education. Only through a community of support are they able to step beyond high school and enter college with confidence.
3
danceup
Newsfeed Snapshots of our youth in motion. Follow us on
@TheWoodenFloor
^
1
CO-CREATION LAB Nik Owens and other company members from the internationally recognized dance company David Dorfman Dance (DDD) collaborated with our students on a powerful piece titled Clouds fall in love. In just six rehearsals, students mastered the highly athletic DDD movement and combined it with their own insights, observations, and expression. A student from the Class of 2022 said, “I lost my fear. I gained confidence...the confidence I needed to grow within.” Choreographer David Dorfman and Nik Owens return this winter to expand upon the piece with our students for The Wooden Floor’s 36th Annual Concert. Co-Creation Lab was made possible in part by a grant from the Surdna Foundation.
4
2 ^
SUMMER SCIENCE WORKSHOPS “We’re making volcanoes!” Students were highly engaged in our Summer Science Workshops, tackling learning about the science of natural disasters through the making of their own volcanoes, sink holes, earthquakes, and more.
The Wooden Floor
^
3
ALUMNI PROFESSIONAL NETWORK The Wooden Floor re-launched its Alumni Professional Network with a networking reception which welcomed the Class of 2018 to the network of fellow alumni, focused on college and career transitions, and featured speaker Jenifer Frial, Founder of Navigate My Career, who discussed using LinkedIn to build a professional network and online presence.
4
^
GRAND OPENING OF OUR SECOND LOCATION We celebrated the opening of The Wooden Floor at Depot at Santiago with a Community Open House featuring a “ribbon” cutting, tours, and inspiring speeches from student Davian from the Class of 2022; David Elliott, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce; Parent Leadership representative Luz Orozco; and our Chief Executive Officer, Dawn S. Reese. We are so grateful for our community’s belief in our students and support of our mission to now serve nearly 500 students and their families year round! 5
danceup
Celebrating 35 Years of Lifting Lives We are grateful to all those who attended our exciting series of celebratory events 35 years in the making! Our weekend of celebration kicked off with a toast of sparkling cider and dessert reception in the lobby of the Irvine Barclay Theatre prior to the opening night of our 35th Annual Concert: Unifying Catalysts. The following day ushered in a spectacular 35th Anniversary Celebration Dinner to honor The Wooden Floor’s three and a half decades of changing lives, and the thriving vision to create a lasting impact for more children and their families in our next 35 years! We unveiled our largest
6
The Wooden Floor
comprehensive campaign to date, called Lift: The Campaign for The Wooden Floor, to a sold-out audience of 180 longtime supporters, students, alumni and special guests. Lift Campaign Chair and Board Emeritus, Damien M. Jordan, announced the special four-year $27.2M campaign, noting that the campaign has already reached nearly $14M in current commitments and has now entered its public phase of support. Guests also heard from Cristina Garcia, an alumna of The Wooden Floor and current student at the UCLA School of Nursing. “With the immense help and support I have received from you all, I am confident that I will graduate UCLA,” she said. “I will pursue my goals to help the sick by becoming a nurse, and give back to underprivileged communities, like I plan to do this summer in Tijuana as a volunteer.” The evening ended with Dawn S. Reese recognizing Honorary Campaign Chairs and Board Emeriti Joan and Donald Beall and Virginia and Richard Hunsaker, as well as Board Emerita Yvonne M. Jordan and her husband, Lift Campaign Chair and Board Emeritus Damien M. Jordan for their longstanding leadership and commitment to The Wooden Floor. To learn more about Lift: The Campaign for The Wooden Floor, visit LiftCampaign.org.
7
danceup
In the First Person Xitlalli, Class of 2022 “As I start high school this fall, the thing I know foremost is that The Wooden Floor has really helped me. My parents hoped that by being here, I would be more social. I had to learn how to start talking to other people, and The Wooden Floor helped me think about how to accomplish that. Everyone cares so much about each person that comes here and their well-being. If I wasn’t at The Wooden Floor, my life would be a totally different story. I wouldn’t really be thinking as much about my future as I do right now. Here, you really learn how to talk to each other. Before, if someone said “hi” to me, I would just turn and walk the other way. I wouldn’t have known the part of me who loves to dance and loves other people. This isn’t the ballet tutu pink thing, it’s modern dance, which really is different. It makes me really think - about my body, the space around me, myself as a human being, and ask myself spiritual, deep questions. In modern dance, our teacher asks us to just breathe and just be, to find connectedness, to look at our fellow dancers in the eye. I could never do that 8
before. When talking to a person, if you don’t look them in the eyes, it doesn’t feel the same, you don’t connect. I’ve learned how to connect with others better. It has taken me 15 years, but I did it.” Xitlalli is entering Foothill High School as 9th grader with a 3.6 GPA. The Wooden Floor’s Middle School Program supports our students’ academic and social-emotional transition to 9th grade, providing foundational support for success in high school, college, and beyond. Empowerment Workshops guide our students through two key transitions: from 5th into 6th grade, to focus students on closing the academic achievement gap during middle school, and from 8th into 9th grade, to ensure successful social-emotional transition to high school. The Wooden Floor was recently awarded the Aim High Grant from the New York Life Foundation, which will provide $100,000 towards the goals of expanding staffing to serve middle school growth and programmatic enhancement to ensure that 100% of our 8th graders continue to transition successfully into 9th grade.
The Wooden Floor
2017-2018 Board of Directors Arthur Ong,* Chairman Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, PIMCO James A. Driscoll,* Immediate Past Chairman Community Leader Saar Swartzon,* Vice Chairman Principal Attorney, Cohn & Swartzon, a Professional Law Corporation Judith F. Posnikoff, PhD,* Treasurer Managing Director, Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company, LLC Epiphany Owen,* Secretary Partner, Best Best & Krieger, LLP
Special thanks to our 2018 Sponsors Upcoming event details on page 10.
Premier Sponsors Joan & Don Beall, Jane & Jim Driscoll, Sharon & Terry Hartshorn, Ginnie & Rich Hunsaker, Janice & John Markley Gold Sponsors Teri & Alan Hoops, Yvonne & Damien Jordan, Nicholas Pardon, Judith Posnikoff, Mary & Gary Tolar, Julie & Justin Wilson, Nancy & Arn Youngman Silver Sponsors Doreen & Jack Bray, Laurie & Steve Duncan, Adele & Bryan Green, Hydraflow - Ayloush Family, The Muzzy Family, Paula & Doug Neff, Ginger & Arthur Ong, Thompson Family Foundation Bronze Sponsors Theresa & Jonathon Allen, Haskell & White Copper Sponsors Denise & Keith Banning, Johnna & Donald Grant, Monica & Jim Meacham, Jeff & Stacy Stone *As of August 2, 2018.
Theresa Allen, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, First Republic Private Wealth Management Sasha Ayloush, Customer Service Manager and Secretary of the Board of Directors, Hydraflow Falon Baltzell, MFA, Artistic Director, The Wooden Floor Joseph Chatelle, Principal, Mercer Gilbert R. Cisneros, President and Co-Founder, The Gilbert & Jacki Cisneros Foundation Michelle Dean, Community Leader Evangelina Gonzalez, Parent Representative Community Leader Bryan Green, Financial Advisor, Edward Jones Jeremy Krout, President/CEO, Environmental Planning Development Solutions, Inc.
Catherine M. MacIver, Community Leader Dale A. Merrill, Dean, College of the Arts, California State University Fullerton Yvonne R. O’Neill,* Certified Public Accountant, O’Neill Financial Management Alix Portillo, Alumni Representative Compliance Specialist, Opus Bank Dawn S. Reese, CFRE, Chief Executive Officer, The Wooden Floor Mary E. Tolar, Vice President and Senior Strategic Program Manager, American Funds/Capital Group Companies, Inc. Ernesto M. Vasquez, FAIA, NCARB, Partner & CEO, SVA Architects, Inc.
BOARD EMERITI Joan Beall, Community Leader Beth A. Burns, Founder of The Wooden Floor and Artistic Director (’83-’05) Sharon Hartshorn, Community Leader Richard C. Hunsaker, President, Hunsaker Management Virginia Hunsaker, Community Leader Damien M. Jordan,* General Manager, Retired, American Funds/Capital Group Companies, Inc. Yvonne M. Jordan, Community Leader Socorro Vasquez, Community Leader *Executive Committee
9
danceup Upcoming Event
ARTHUR ONG, BOARD CHAIRMAN, LEFT, DAWN S. REESE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, LEAH ALSTON, CLASS OF 2018, AND HONORARY CHAIRS JANICE AND JOHN MARKLEY
DAWN S. REESE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER WITH CHRIS DIXON, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, BANK OF AMERICA
BANK OF AMERICA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT GRANT
We are grateful to the Bank of America Foundation for a $25,000 Workforce Development grant to help us serve 100 additional students and their families at our Depot at Santiago location. Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 6:00pm Big Canyon Country Club Newport Beach, CA Orange County’s premier wine tasting benefit, returning for its 12th year, offers guests the opportunity to enjoy a hand-picked selection of highly rated wines from around the world and the extraordinary tasting experience this benefit is known for. The evening will raise funds for The Wooden Floor’s award-winning youth development programs, serving young people from low income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education. 100 percent of students who graduate immediately enroll in higher education. Please join us to keep the promise to these young people, that “from here, you can step anywhere.” 10
Event Details
This benefit has become one of the region’s hottest charity events, and sells out each year. The evening includes: • A fun, strolling blind wine-tasting competition • Signature small plates • Sharing of student success stories • Live and silent auctions • Opportunity Drawings • Giving opportunities Sponsorships ranging from $1,500$30,000 are available. Individual Tickets are $350 per person. Reserve your tickets or sponsorship today with the enclosed envelope or at TheWoodenFloor.org/WineTasting.
SHARI BATTLE, BANK OF AMERICA; SCOTT BERING, C&C DEVELOPMENT; AND ALLEN STAFF, MARKET PRESIDENT & REGIONAL EXECUTIVE AT BANK OF AMERICA
W F
R
The Wooden Floor
Supporter Sightings 6th STEP BEYOND ANNUAL BREAKFAST ®
CLASS OF 2018 STUDENTS SAMANTHA, ALEJANDRA, ADRIAN, AND SOFIA WITH KRISTI WILLETTE, WILLETTE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, LEAD CLASS PARTNER
Over 200 guests gathered to support and celebrate The Wooden Floor's Class of 2018, our 14th consecutive graduating class to have 100 percent of students finish high school on time and immediately enroll in higher education. Local corporate, civic, and community leaders gathered for the event, this year breaking the record by raising over $436,000 to help move young people onto higher education.
T
nt
WE THANK CATIE CHASE, SANDY FAINBARG, AND NANCY CHASE, LEAD CAMPUS UNDERWRITERS OF THE ALLAN AND SANDY FAINBARG FAMILY EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY CENTER AT THE WOODEN FLOOR AT DEPOT AT SANTIAGO.
THE WOODEN FLOOR AT DEPOT AT SANTIAGO LEAD CAMPUS EXPANSION UNDERWRITERS CELEBRATION
When we issued the call to serve more students, Lead Campus Expansion Underwriters and their fellow community of supporters responded and helped us realize the dream to serve more young people through a second location. They were thanked for their belief and investment in our students with a student-led dedication as well as a special performance co-created by our students and Artistic Director Falon Baltzell, which was made to reflect how students are lifted to their full potential through their day-to-day experiences at The Wooden Floor.
To learn about more ways to get involved, please contact Tianna Haradon at 714.541.8314 ext. 124 or Tianna@TheWoodenFloor.org.
11
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
NONPROFIT US POSTAGE
PAID
1810 North Main Street Santa Ana, CA 92706-2727 714.541.8314 TheWoodenFloor.org
SANTA ANA, CA PERMIT NO. 949
Come join us! September 13, 2018
Sample the world's most exquisite wines. Proceeds help us keep the promise to each of our underserved students: from here, you can step anywhere. Sponsorship and ticket information available at TheWoodenFloor.org/WineTasting.
October 20, 2018 Annual Auditions
Know a child who needs us? Spread the word to our community about the opportunity to join The Wooden Floor. More information at TheWoodenFloor.org/Auditions.
October 29, 2018
3650 New Student Reception Help welcome our new students for day-one of their 10-year (3,650-day) journeys at The Wooden Floor. More information at TheWoodenFloor.org/Events.
Photography by Christine Cotter, Steven Georges, and Tony Lattimore ©2018 The Wooden Floor. DanceUp is a trademark of The Wooden Floor.
12TH Annual Keep the Promise™ Wine Tasting Benefit