Boryana Straubel

Boryana Straubel
Straubel in 2015
Born
Boryana Dineva

(1983-05-25)May 25, 1983
Bulgaria
DiedJune 19, 2021(2021-06-19) (aged 38)[1]
Washoe Valley, Nevada[2]
Education
Spouse
​
(m. 2013)​
[1]
Websitestraubelfoundation.org/thefounders

Boryana Dineva Straubel (May 25, 1983 – June 19, 2021) was a Bulgarian businesswoman and philanthropist who emigrated to the United States. She was a manager in human resources at Tesla, and married Tesla executive J. B. Straubel in 2013. In 2015, she became the vice president of human resources for the Wikimedia Foundation for one year. She was also the founder of a sustainable jewelry company called Generation Collection.

As she was bicycling in a designated lane in Nevada in June 2021, a car crossed the center line and struck her, killing her instantly.

Early life and education

Boryana Dineva was born in Bulgaria. She was raised by a single mother. From a very young age, the value of hard work was instilled in her. She graduated from high school as class valedictorian in 2000.[3]

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, her family migrated to Germany, where they lived in a refugee camp for a few months. Afterwards she lived in Austria and Russia.[4] Straubel was passionate about math. She was shy and preferred surfing the internet rather than going out with friends.[4] She moved to the United States in 2005.[4] Straubel studied at the College of San Mateo and graduated in 2008. She studied at the University of California, Berkeley where she got a B.S. in Economics.[4] In 2019 and 2020, she obtained a Management Science & Engineering Master's degree and an MBA at Stanford University.[1]

Career

Straubel worked as account manager for the software company Brocade until 2011. She joined Tesla in 2011 and stayed until 2015.[4]

From 2015 to 2016, Straubel was VP of Human Resources for the Wikimedia Foundation. She oversaw the Wikimedia Foundation's talent and culture function, including talent acquisition, organizational training and development, and talent management and people analytics. She reported to Wikimedia Foundation Chief Operating Officer Terence Gilbey.[5] She returned to Tesla after her work at the Wikimedia Foundation.[4]

In 2021, she founded a jewelry company, Generation Collection, to promote environmental sustainability through the recycling of metals.[4][1][6][7][8]

Personal life and death

On August 3, 2013, Boryana Dineva Straubel married J. B. Straubel and lived in Woodside, California.[9] In 2015, she gave birth to twins.[10] When JB Straubel left as CTO at Tesla in July 2019, they moved to Nevada, where Redwood Materials was located.[2]

Straubel died after being hit by a car which crossed a double yellow line on June 19, 2021, while Straubel was riding her bike.[11][12][13] The driver of the car that killed her, Guadelupe Garcia-Davalos, was unlicensed and pleaded guilty to one count of reckless driving causing death or substantial bodily harm. The crime carried a maximum sentence of six years in prison.[14][15] Garcia-Davalos was sentenced to two to six years in prison, and served just over two years, being released from parole on December 31, 2024.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Elizabeth Paton (April 23, 2021). "Does Recycled Gold Herald a Greener Future for Jewelry? Boryana Straubel, founder of Generation Collection, calls recycled gold a way to clean up electronic waste — and a canny investment". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Terell Wilkins and Chelcey Adami (June 19, 2021). "UPDATE: Cyclist killed in crash on U.S. 395A ID'd as 38-year-old Washoe Valley resident". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Why 24k Gold?". Generation Collection. 13 September 2021. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Penelope Green (July 1, 2021). "Boryana Straubel, 38, Dies; Founded a 'Green' Jewelry Company: A former Tesla executive, she ran a family foundation that focuses on environmental sustainability". The New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  5. ↑ Maher, Katherine (5 October 2015). "Wikimedia Foundation welcomes Boryana Dineva as Vice President of Human Resources". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Staff writer (March 4, 2021). "Introducing: Generation Collection". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  7. ↑ Penelope Green (NY Times) (July 2, 2021). "Boryana Straubel, 38, dies; founded a 'green' jewelry company". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  8. ↑ Rachel Cernansky (March 4, 2021). "Jewellery's sustainable future: Recycled gold: A new startup positions recycled gold as an investment strategy as well as a fashion statement, hinting at a possible future for sustainable jewellery". Vogue Business. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Crusader Connection Winter 2015". Edgewood High School Magazine. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Straubel, Boryana. "Human Resource Executive. July/August 2014". Instagram. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "NHP Identifies Bicyclist Killed in Crash on U.S. 395A Saturday Morning". 2 News. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  12. ↑ "Washoe Valley woman killed in cycling crash". Nevada Appeal. June 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ Wilkins, Terell (19 June 2021). "Cyclist killed in crash on U.S. 395A ID'd as 38-year-old Washoe Valley resident". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  14. ↑ Hart, Joe (2021-09-21). "Ask Joe: Why no vehicular manslaughter charge in deadly Washoe Valley crash?". KRNV. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  15. ↑ Hart, Joe (2022-01-20). "Ask Joe: Guilty plea entered in deadly Washoe Valley crash". KRNV. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  16. ↑ Driver released from prison following deadly Washoe Valley Crash in 2021, News4, mynews4.com, March 27,2025, accessed 22 August 2026.
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