About Us

David Dawson, Chess Olympiad participant in action coaching chess to a group of families

Who We Are

Chess Olympiad participant and local Milford, Connecticut resident David Dawson has an MBA and 20+ years of experience in education. 201 attendees and 119 unique participants have already been through his Chess for Success in Your Life series of Chess Workshops, one-on-one and group chess coaching programs in our beloved community since he began to offer his chess coaching skills after graduating from the People Empowering People (PEP) program brought to our community by UCONN and the Milford Adult Education program, with support from the Parent Trust Fund.

Dawson began by providing his chess coaching services to the community as a volunteer project in which he provided 50 children, parents, and caregivers in the Milford, Connecticut community, each with up to 6 hours of in-person chess coaching/training at two separate group programs—a $9,000 value—at no cost. Since then, his chess coaching has been in high demand, and has grown with families across Milford coming back for more, wanting to be coached to play together as well as to have their children coached in this wonderful game. Together with his wife, Julianna Dawson, Founding President and CEO of Whole Life Change LLC, Dawson has developed a unique method of chess coaching that is interactive, fun, and sure to develop a long-term love of the game.

"I've known how to play chess for so long, without knowing how to play chess for so long, so this has been great to have all the little strategies. One time I might actually beat this guy [son], so we'll see. This guy here is pretty tough. Thank you for everything... Thank you. It's been wonderful!"
Maurizio G.
Milford, CT

Meet the Team

David Dawson

Chess Coach

David began to offer his services as a chess coach in the Summer of 2022 after graduating from the Milford Department of Education, UCONN and Bridges supported People Empowering People program and seeking to deliver a project to serve the community in his area of expertise. Given his participation in multiple Chess Olympiad events, and his experience in tournaments around the world, he chose to set a goal to teach at least 1 person how to play chess. That summer, he taught 50 people, and have gone on to coach many more since.