Sandor and Faye Straus

Sandor and Faye, founders of The Firedoll Foundation, met during Senator Eugene McCarthy's 1968 campaign for the Presidency. Faye received her B.A. in Political Science from the UC, Berkeley that year. Sandor completed his Ph.D. in Mathematics at Berkeley in 1972.

Sandor taught mathematics and computer science at the Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg in Germany, and at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has been involved in financial modeling and investing since 1980 with Renaissance Technology Corp. and Edgestream Partners LP, a financial consulting company.

Faye worked in government at the federal and local levels, including positions in budget analysis and program evaluation for the Suffolk County Legislature and the Suffolk County Probation Department in New York. On the community level she had been active in supporting local public education, promoting the quality of maternal and child health, and participating in peace and reconciliation work, including facilitating Jewish-Palestinian dialogue.

Melissa Boilon

Melissa works primarily in the areas of Immigration and Human Rights, Community Development, and Environmental Conservation. She has a Masters of Public Administration and enjoys working with the wide variety of organizations in the Bay Area. She loves traveling, but always enjoys coming home to her native state of California. She also enjoys going on long hikes in the Oakland hills with her husband, daughter, and cattle dog.

Faiza Bukhari

Faiza brings extensive experience in place-based grantmaking to her role as Program Officer. She is passionate about inspiring transformative change in non-profit organizations and across communities. Prior to joining Firedoll, Faiza led the Racial Justice and Arts Build Resilient Communities program areas at the Walter & Elise Haas Fund where she supported efforts to uplift BIPOC-led organizations and communities through trust-based practices, developing new initiatives, and elevating work that uses community organizing, movement building, and the power of arts and culture as tools to address injustice in all its forms. Faiza is a lifelong arts enthusiast and visual artist who has exhibited her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Anna Straus

Anna works primarily in the area of Traumatic Brain Injury. She has a Bachelors in International Relations and a Masters in Special Education. Prior to joining Firedoll, Anna worked for 10 years as a Special Education Teacher for students with moderate to severe disabilities. She enjoys reading, attending Giants games, and going to the beach.

Arlene Wong

Arlene has been at Firedoll Foundation since 2011. She received a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, she has worked for the Hawaii State Legislature, US Congress, USEPA, and the Pacific Institute. Arlene brings formidable expertise to Firedoll Foundation in the areas of environmental policy, California water policy, and environmental justice.

Fireworks and Dolly

The founding cats.