About Sam Dorf

A photo of Sam Dorf, candidate for Oakwood City Council, with his family at a picnic in Oakwood..

Why I Love Oakwood

With newborn twins in tow, my wife and I moved to Oakwood in 2012 to start our new family. We didn’t know much about Oakwood before renting here, but we soon discovered that Oakwood was the ideal place to build our life. We chose Oakwood for the services and walkability, the excellent public schools, safety and community. Over the last thirteen years we have met many neighbors, made a lot of friends, and continue to find new ways to strengthen our beloved city. We quickly learned that Oakwood is more than beautiful parks, great schools, well-maintained historic homes and buildings, and trees: Oakwood’s true beauty and value lies within. It is about the people who live, work, and shop here. 

I have volunteered my time to Oakwood and the surrounding community in various ways: 

  • Founded Citizens for a Better Oakwood, a local grassroots organization dedicated to ensuring that Oakwood is a welcoming, inclusive and more just city for its residents and visitors. The group is committed to working with city officials, the Oakwood community and the surrounding communities to meet its goals. 

  • Co-founded and served as Secretary of the Oakwood Inclusion Coalition with city, school, library and community partners.

  • Completed Oakwood Public Safety’s Citizens Police Academy. 

  • Served on Oakwood School’s principal and superintendent search panels

  • Founded Oakwood’s Annual Family Pride Picnic

  • Participated in Green Oakwood educational initiatives

  • Currently serve on the Board of Directors of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, and previously served on the board of the Bach Society of Dayton

  • Previously served on the boards of Anti-Defamation League’s Cleveland Regional Office (covering Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania), Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, Jewish Community Relations Council Racial Justice Alliance, among other Jewish organizations.

I am also an educator, scholar, artist, and administrator. In this capacity, I’ve served in a number of leadership roles that have helped me develop the skills (i.e. university-wide budgets and policies, and inclusive excellence work) to be a leader in Oakwood.

Our family are members of Beth Abraham Synagogue in Oakwood, where my wife serves on the board.