More Than Bootstraps

Have you heard of More Than Bootstraps? 🤔 It's a nonprofit that celebrates and empowers first-generation students who are aiming to achieve their dreams. As we join in the excitement of #DreamHigher2024, let's also get ready to celebrate National First Generation Student Day! 🎉 Stay tuned for more updates and inspiring stories on this amazing journey. Let's lift each other up! 💪✨ #MoreThanBootstraps

We are thrilled to celebrate the achievement of MTB Senior Fellow Kelmys Gil-alvarez who has been named a QuestBridge 2024 National College Match Finalist! Kelmys is the third student in MTB to earn a coveted spot as a QuestBridge finalist. “Our mentors continue to motivate, inspire, and open doors for their younger high school peers,” said Audrey Fisch, founder and president of More Than Bootstraps. “Together, our high school and college students demonstrate their ability to empower each other on the road to success in higher education.” Kelmys offered these words of encouragement to other students like himself: “It doesn't hurt to put yourself out there. As long as you try your hardest and make yourself known, doors will open for you." Swipe through to learn more, or visit conta.cc/3YpjVvq to read the full press release.

We knew this was coming … alas.

Thank you, Focus for Health Foundation, for your investment in the first-generation college students of More Than Bootstraps and for allowing us to be part of the amazing Focus community of like-minded people who are engaged in what Yusef Salaam called "righteous collaboration." Barry, Dolly, and Martin - you are making the change. Jen, Erika, Passion, and Kiaya - you make the hard work look easy, and we see you!

Nelsie Abreu Jacqueline Arteaga Alyssa Tentle Jasmin Bravo Rachel Sainz Parth Rana Manan Raval Ashley Delgado Roselyn Munoz

Our October Newsletter is here! 🗞️✨ We're excited to introduce our new College Student Leaders (all former MTB High School Fellows) and the members of the MTB Support Team, to offer insight into college visits, and to provide access to a new resource we've partnered with, called Level All. Swipe through to learn more, or visit conta.cc/4eHGDpc to read the newsletter in full (and consider joining our email list!) #MoreThanBootstraps #dreamhigher2025 Alyssa Tentle Nelsie Abreu Jasmin Bravo Rachel Sainz Sussex Trinidad Ayana Goodwin

"What the new leaders said in their introductions moved me. That will be me next year! Thank you for sharing your journey, Alyssa Tentle. You are an amazing role model and inspire all of us to #dreamhigher2025.

"This meeting was full of a lot of emotions but I am so glad that I was able to see and hear our new leaders ' stories. I'm so glad that the Full Group Meeting is a space to share the good aspects of our lives but also the most vulnerable ones as well without feeling judged." Thank you for being so open, Jasmin Bravo! You are helping all of us #dreamhigher2025.

"I felt very touched by the new leaders' introductions. I related . . . sometimes, we don't get the opportunity to express how we feel." Thank you for sharing your inspiring story with us, Rachel Sainz! Your journey from High School Fellow to new College Student Leader helps all of us #dreamhigher2025.

Our September Full Group Meeting kicks off the school year and features self-introductions from our new College Student Leaders. As they tell their stories, they inspire, challenge, and connect with everyone in the MTB community. Thank you, Nelsie, for sharing the story of your challenges and successes! "The speeches from the four new college leaders were really impactful; I found a lot of resonance in their words." #dreamhigher2025