Meet Our Amazing Team at Dominique Dawes Academy

Meet the staff fueling our mission to redefine gymnastics: here to support every child’s physical, emotional, and social development with care and integrity.

Dominique Dawes

Founder and Brand Ambassador

Dominique Dawes is a wife and mother of 4 young children who inspires her advocacy of health and wellness related endeavors. This three-time Olympic gymnast (Barcelona ’92, Atlanta ’96, Sydney ’00), Dawes is an Olympic Gold Medalist and Owner and CEO of the Dominique Dawes Academies. Dawes opened the gyms to continue her commitment to developing a healthy and compassionate culture in the sport of gymnastics. Her first academy opened in the midst of a global pandemic, July 2020, her second location opened in April 2023 and her third location will be opening in 2024 in Columbia, MD. “Every day, I watch young girls and boys walk out of my facility sweating and smiling. This journey has been more rewarding, more thrilling than standing on any Olympic podium.”

Adam Zeitsiff

Chief Executive Officer

After almost two decades of operating and technology experience at fitness brands who serve the adult population, Adam’s personal passion turned towards helping our nation’s children become healthy and active, with a goal of reversing the growing childhood obesity epidemic that is sweeping our country. Adam has been CEO of the Dominique Dawes Academy since August of 2024, and maintains overall responsibility for our national expansion, while ensuring that we inspire as many healthy and active kids as possible through the grace of recreational gymnastics and the fun of a fitness program designed around ninja competition. Adam has held senior roles at some of the industry’s most established brands, including the global CEO of Gold’s Gym, tenures as CIO at both LA Fitness and Gold’s Gym, brand President at the parent company of Anytime Fitness, and a long tenure as the CEO of Jonas Fitness. He also volunteers as the Chair of the National Health & Fitness Alliance (NHFA), which is the state and federal advocacy advisory board to the Health & Fitness Association (formerly IHRSA), the US health and fitness industry’s non-profit trade organization

Britt Kleine

Chief Operating Officer

Britt has a long history of competitive athletics and organizational leadership. With a lifelong passion for both sport and business, Britt has competed at four world championships in the sport of ringette as captain for the U.S. national team, and professionally has worked most notably with Special Olympics and City Fitness, a top fitness brand in Philadelphia. Changing lives through health and fitness has always been at the forefront of her professional endeavors, though her love for growing organizations and teams has been the backbone. Britt is thrilled to bring her experience to Dominique Dawes Academy and is committed to providing a fun, safe and inclusive environment for our staff and athletes.

Dan Mannetti

Head of Finance

Dan joined DDGNA in January of 2025, entering the world of youth sports after a successful tenure in the professional ranks, as the Senior Director of Accounting for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (owners of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, and WNBA’s Washington Mystics). A licensed Certified Public Accountant, Dan initially came up in the accounting profession as an auditor at public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, spending six years in the Tysons, VA office Assurance practice.

When he’s not somersaulting his way through Excel spreadsheets, Dan enjoys staying active with his family, consisting of wife, Danielle, and their two children, Brooks (4), and Olivia (2). Whether it’s coaching or participating alongside his kids in their sports/activities, Dan is uniquely positioned at this point of his life as both a consumer and a provider of youth sports and enrichment programs. This gives him a valuable perspective in helping to ensure that Dominque Dawes Academy is developing happy, active, and strong kids!

Kristen Neishi

Director of Training and Certification

Kristen has been with the Dominique Dawes Academy in Rockville since December 2022, starting out as the Associate Program Director and becoming Program Director in September 2023. She was a competitive gymnast for 14 years, competing Level 10 and as a Division I gymnast for the University of California, Berkeley. Her two active children were loving their gymnastics and ninja classes at the Academy and seeing them thrive in a fun and empowering environment inspired her to make a career change to be part of it all. She loves being back in the gym and seeing how much of a positive impact gymnastics and ninja has on kids. One of her favorite parts of the job is developing relationships with the families and students who attend the gym.

Larraine Morales

Director of Teams

Larraine was a competitive gymnast in New Mexico starting at age 8 and has been coaching in the Xcel Program for over 12 years. She has been the Executive Director of the Xcel program at Dominique Dawes Academy since June of 2023 and recently was promoted to the Director of Teams. Larraine believes that you not only coach gymnastics skills, you also coach the person in order to help build a solid foundation inside and outside of the gym. In her role, Larraine strives to build a safe, fun, and positive environment for all recreational and competitive gymnasts no matter the skill level. During her time off, she enjoys spending quality time with her 5-year-old daughter, Aly.

Sarah Scott

Marketing Manager

Sarah is a native Texan, and has been a resident of the DMV since 2017. A graduate of Texas State University, Sarah received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing in 2012. After graduating, Sarah began working in marketing, events, and partnerships in the world of real estate, and in 2017 transitioned to fitness and wellness marketing for VIDA Fitness, a high-end chain of boutique gyms, spas and studios in the DMV. In 2021 she became a member of the Communications Team at the DC Department of Parks and Recreation as a Public Affairs Specialist and as the Marketing and Events Manager for FITDC, DPR camps, summer programming, and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Rec 4 All Campaign. In 2024, Sarah became the Marketing Manager of Dominique Dawes Academy, giving her a chance to grow her skill set and focus on her love of children and wellness within her community. In her free time, Sarah loves being active and spending time with her two daughters and husband.

We’re Hiring

Want to be a part of the action? If you think you have what it takes to join our awesome crew!