Dawn S. Reese

The Wooden Floor

Chief Executive Officer

Dawn S. Reese serves as chief executive officer of The Wooden Floor, where she has led the organization through a period of exceptional growth and strategic innovation since joining in 2009. Under her leadership, the nonprofit has expanded from serving 375 to 475 students year-round, opened a second Santa Ana location through a cost-free partnership with housing developers and scaled its youth development model nationally via licensed affiliates. In 2023, Reese launched Dance Uplifts, an after-school initiative serving Title I schools in Garden Grove, furthering the organization’s community engagement in response to Proposition 28 and growing student mental health needs. She has increased the annual operating budget by 85% and grown the endowment by over 400%, strengthening program sustainability for generations of students. She is the founder of the OC Nonprofit CEO Forum, chair of the Santa Ana Youth Mental Health Sub-Committee and holds multiple board roles across the philanthropic and arts sectors.