Dr. Faini has more than 25 years’ experience partnering with students, their families, and educators to create hands-on, inquiry-based programs in STEM fields across the corporate, academic and nonprofit sectors. Dr. Faini has built numerous public/private partnerships to connect students with tools and resources to explore and develop their talents in STEM fields. As a national academic programs manager at Microsoft, Dr. Faini created partnerships with K-12 educators and organizations, university faculty, and government programs, such as NASA, to engage all students in solving current challenges by using new technology. She led the team that built and launched a global web design contest for high school students. Dr. Faini attended the CS for All White House Summit, the launch of NCWIT and TECHNOLOchicas, and served on the NCWIT K-12 Alliance for four years.

As Executive Director of Oregon MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement), Dr. Faini tripled the number of student participants in 2.5 years, recruited hundreds of volunteers, and served as the faculty advisor for the National Society of Black Engineers at Portland State University. After completing her doctoral studies, Dr. Faini founded a STEM-focused academic program in Silicon Valley that matched middle school students with same-race, same-gender mentors. She worked on science and technology issues for a U.S. Congressman in Washington, D.C. prior to graduate school. Dr. Faini’s education experience includes teaching Spanish, English, and nonprofit management at Stanford University, Seattle University and a large, public high school in Los Angeles.