Dayna Hoff has transformed the autism community in San Diego, Bay Area and beyond as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Autism Tree. Dayna founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Autism Tree with her husband, Todd, when their son was diagnosed with autism in 2003. Dayna is a passionate and innovative leader who is a key contributor to expanding advocacy and support for Neurodiversity on a global scale.
Autism Tree (AT) exists to help the autism community live our best lives and has invested over $4.6 million back into the community since 2003. AT provides over 200 in-person, hybrid, and virtual annual events under 20 programs at no charge to families living with autism. Their programs offer an abundance of social opportunities for neurodiverse children and their families to connect, engage and play in a safe, loving, and supportive community. All AT events are designed to benefit the entire family and build the social confidence, language, and communication skills of the autistic individual.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) currently impacts 1 in every 22 children in California and 1 in every 36 children nationwide. In 2006, Autism Tree launched the Early Intervention Preschool Screening Program to provide developmental screenings to preschoolers free of charge to parents and preschools. In 2015, Dayna and the Autism Tree team launched the Ignite Every Child Movement, hosted two Ignite Every Child 1,000-person Luncheons (in 2016 and 2018), and built a legacy of providing developmental screenings to more than 20,600 preschoolers up until the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns in March 2020.
In the years following the pandemic, children diagnosed with autism have faced significant academic, social, and emotional setbacks. To address these critical needs, Dayna and the Autism Tree team have focused their efforts on personally connecting with each new family and providing them with education, advocacy, and social support to help them navigate the complex system of service providers and necessary resources for their child to thrive.
About Dayna Hoff
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I am blessed to be celebrating 28 years of marriage to my husband Todd this October 2024. We are proud parents of a son who graduated George Washington University in 2021 and currently attends Duke Law School. Our family cherishes every moment we can spend together at home or traveling. We have a strong faith and thank God for a beautiful life full of friends and family with big hearts to make a difference in our communities and beyond.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
In 2003, I co-founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Autism Tree and currently serve as Executive Director. What I love most is helping each Autism Tree family create the best life possible for each of their neurodiverse children and the autistic individuals we have the honor of serving at Autism Tree. Outside of Autism Tree, I have over 30 years of experience working with global corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, NCR and Siemens. My previous career experience has proven to be an asset as I now work with global business leaders, doctors, professors, researchers, and other experts in Neurodiversity as it relates to autism. Through this work, I have developed strong partnerships with Stanford University, Cambridge University, University of California Los Angeles, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, University of California Davis MIND Institute, San Jose State University, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, Rutgers University, Drexel University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, St. Joseph University’s Kinney Center, San Diego State University, University of San Diego, SAP, Neurocrine Biosciences, Takeda, Caterpillar Inc., DPR Construction, and many more.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Live in the present moment and let the people you love and work with be who they are.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Making an impact as a leader in the global neurodiverse community, traveling, and training to hike the Camino de Santiago from France to Spain.
Dayna Hoff & Our Community
Q: What are a few of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Cesarina in Point Loma and Javier’s in La Jolla.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
Over 30 years.
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in our community?
Alysson Muotri, Ph.D., who is the Chairman of Autism Tree’s Annual Global Neurodiversity Conference, a professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and currently serving as Director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI) Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research Center. What I find most interesting about Dr. Muotri is that he is partnering with NASA and NIH to train scientists into becoming astronauts to conduct stem cell research in a laboratory bay located aboard the International Space Station!
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
Petco Park and the San Diego Padres.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
San Diego’s perfect weather and walkability.
Q: If you could choose anyone alive today and not a relative, with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?
Alicia Keys, because her music calms my soul and she lives in my dream house – the “Razor House”. I would meet her at Caroline’s Seaside Cafe by Giuseppe in La Jolla.
For Fun
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
My favorite movie is My Octopus Teacher and my favorite TV show is Ted Lasso.
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
I enjoy going to book signing events with Best Selling Authors and treating them like blind dates, meaning I attend without knowing anything about the author or the genre of the book. It’s always extra entertaining going in not knowing.
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
Autism Tree’s Annual Global Neurodiversity Conference. In 2013, I collaborated with global leaders at The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, the Salk Institute, and the University of California San Diego to produce an annual Neuroscience Conference with the goal of creating a heart connection between the internationally renowned neuroscience researchers here on Miracle Coast in La Jolla and the Autism Tree children and families. After a decade, the conference transitioned from a Neuroscience Conference with 400 in-person attendees to a world-class, fully hybrid Global Neurodiversity Conference recorded by the University of California Television (UCTV). We are proud this annual conference has evolved into a powerful platform for the voices of our global neurodiverse community. Our conference recordings have been viewed by over 259,000 people across 16 different countries around the world and counting. You can watch all past conference talks online: https://uctv.tv/autism-tree-project/. Autism Tree’s 2024 Annual Global Hybrid Neurodiversity Conference will be held on Friday, November 8. Click this link to register to attend: https://bit.ly/2024ATGNC
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
My son Garret.
Q: What community organizations and/or local nonprofits do you admire/support?
Autism Tree, the nonprofit I founded with my husband Todd after our son was diagnosed with autism in 2003. Every day, the Autism Tree team and I support families through our four core values: EMBRACE, CONNECT, EMPOWER, and CREATE. We embrace every family with love and acceptance. We connect every family with a community of resources. We empower you to build a better world by investing in your vision. We create organic relationships, meaningful opportunities, and lasting friendships.
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Write down five things every day you are grateful for, with intention.
Q: What Neighborhood do you live in?
Point Loma.
What I love about my Neighborhood:
I love the people, palm trees, that Point Loma is close to San Diego Bay, and the sound of seagulls and harbor seals.
Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend:
My ideal weekend would be spent with my husband Todd and would include hiking in nature at Sunset Cliffs and Cabrillo National Monument; having breakfast, lunch or dinner at the Southwestern Yacht Club; paddleboarding in San Diego Bay; walking downtown and taking the ferry to Coronado; having Happy Hour on the beach in front of the Hotel Del Coronado, and watching the sunset.
Q: Finally, what three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Family, Love and Sanctuary
