Dana Butler, Shea Center Executive Director What makes a 13-year-old girl, volunteer her time to walk next to a horse ridden by a child with disabilities? What makes a 14-year-old girl offer six months worth of her own, hard earned babysitting money, to help pay for a rider’s tuition for therapy?

“It’s love in action,” says Dana Butler, Executive Director of The J. F. Shea Center for Therapeutic Riding.

The news today is filled with talk of war, recession, natural disasters and crime. Our educational system is in trouble, global warming is getting worse, people are worried about the future. In trying times it’s easy to forget the power of love … until you visit The Shea Center.

“The Shea Center is an example of how the world was meant to function,” says Dana. “It’s people working together. We’ve got a wonderful synergistic effect that empowers individuals to come together to accomplish things they could never do on their own. Our riders and volunteers reach beyond their abilities and beliefs to make the impossible possible.”

Dana joined The Shea Center as its Executive Director 11 years ago. Since then she’s led the center through growth from a $335,000 operating budget with $475,000 in net assets to a $2.1 million dollar operating budget with over $11 million in net assets.

Quick to share the credit for these accomplishments, Dana says, “That’s the power of love. People come together at our center to reach for things that extend beyond their limitations. They believe that anything is possible … and it is.”

Though she’s accomplished much in her current position, Dana had other dreams as a child. Raised in a musically gifted family, Dana grew up with a deep love for music and the theater.

“Both of my parents were composers and music teachers,” says Dana. “Even my extended family was musically inclined. Holidays at our house were like music festivals.”

Her sister became an opera singer for the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and when Dana moved from Seattle to California she was convinced she would follow a similar path in the movie industry.

“I was in Los Angeles and thought this is the place to do it,” she says. “Instead I learned a very important lesson in my life – one that has colored all of my decisions since.”

That lesson came from an early experience working with one of the moguls of the entertainment industry.

“I worked with one of the true Hollywood icons who was everything I thought I wanted to become,” says Dana. “Until I saw how miserable this person was. That experience taught me that success without purpose is meaningless. I realized then that if I wanted to achieve happiness, it would have to include others achieving happiness. I re-evaluated all the skills and talents I had and asked myself how I could put those qualities to work to make life better for others.”

During that process Dana discovered that she had a gift for breaking down projects into little segments and then attaching the right people to the task. This ability has served her well at The Shea Center.

“On the business side, we are very process oriented,” she says. “But we’re process with a heart. We don’t forget that we are in the business of helping people.”

Sometimes, unintentionally, organizations focus on process and structure and forget the people they originally set out to help. Not so at The Shea Center.

“We make sure that the process, the business side of our organization, is there to support our
big picture goals, not the other way around.”

This belief permeates the organization. Everyone from the staff and volunteers to the riders and their families and the community at large is touched by the principles of purpose in process.

“It’s much like a play,” says Dana. “You have to know your lines. But you have to remember that the audience is not there for the lines, they are there for the experience. The Shea Center is focused on providing a positive experience for everyone it touches.”

On the process side, Dana is in the position of raising funds for the center.

“Part of my job as Executive Director is to raise money and rally volunteers,” says Dana. “But the truth is that I’m simply a story teller, sharing the message of hope that our staff, riders and volunteers live everyday.”

There’s the story of Elizabeth Hilgeman, a young girl who survived where her twin didn’t. Despite being born with a massive brain injury this little girl has a love of life and a desire to connect with others. Her experiences at The Shea Center have helped her to thrive. When her younger brother was diagnosed with autism, he too began receiving therapy. Today both children ride and smile. They’ve found a way to connect despite their disabilities.

There’s the Green family who has this to say, “The Shea center has provided more than therapy for our daughter. It has given Kara a place to call her own. While her sisters have their special talents, special interests and fulfilling hobbies, Kara has The Shea Center. It’s more than therapy; it’s more than a hobby or special interests. It’s her place, a place she would call her home away from home.”

There’s also the story of the Klein family who gave the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center a $1 million gift and issued an $850,000 matching challenge to fun the Klein Family Education & Therapy Building. Their gift and challenge raised more than $2.7 million to fund the building, leaving less than $2.5 million remaining to complete the project.

“Every volunteer, rider and donor has a story to share,” says Dana. “Those stories are what compel them to do what they do. The rest of the world may have forgotten or devalued individual stories but at The Shea Center its what we are all about.”



The people that support The Shea Center are people who were moved or impacted by a story – their own, that of someone close to them or a story of a special child they've never even met.

“It’s been my experience that everyone does what they can to help,” says Dana. “Some volunteer, some give money, all receive the gift that philanthropy teaches. They learn that together we can reach beyond ourselves and accomplish things that seemed impossible.”

Though Dana didn’t follow the path she anticipated she still uses her performing skills.

“I tell stories at almost every function we have and sometimes I'll even sing a song,” says Dana. “Like my family holidays, everyone plays a part. I realized that I never really left the theater. It’s just a different stage.”

How does Dana Butler define success?

“When the sum of your efforts is greater than any individual part,” she says. “My life and the lives of countless others have been changed for the better because of The Shea Center. I am happy and at peace with my life. I think that is the true definition of success.”

For more information about the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center visit their website at www.sheacenter.org.