Sonya Staff (1909-1997) was a feminist, an actress, a dancer, an interior designer, a camp director, a tenant organizer, a businesswoman, a wife (who kept her own name after being married in 1926), a mother, an atheist (who nevertheless respected the religious beliefs of others), and a valued member of the progressive community. The daughter of immigrants from Russia and Poland, she grew up in New York speaking both Yiddish and English. She believed her good fortune in life should be shared, and she established the Sonya Staff Foundation to do just that.

The Sonya Staff Foundation was established in 1984 and is a registered 501(c)(3) corporation under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York.