WESTFIELD, PLAINFIELD, and PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY – May 5, 2026

More Than Bootstraps (MTB), a New Jersey non-profit organization, has received a $5,000 grant from the IECA Foundation, the charitable arm of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), to support its college access and success work in Passaic, New Jersey. More Than Bootstraps has received two previous mini-grants from IECA.

Now completing its sixth year of programming, MTB employs a near-peer mentoring approach to address the challenges first-generation, low-income students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education. Working with underrepresented students in Passaic and Plainfield, NJ, the organization matches high school students with near-peer mentors – high school graduates from the communities of Passaic and Plainfield who are currently enrolled at institutions ranging from Princeton to Kean University. College Student Leaders meet weekly with their high school mentees and follow a curriculum of activities focused on personal and professional development, college and financial aid awareness, and communication with families.

Ella McNiece, Program Director for the IECA Foundation, commented that "The IECA Foundation is proud to support More Than Bootstraps as they empower students to navigate the journey to and through higher education. We look forward to the lasting impact their programs will have on young people in New Jersey."

“As we wind down our sixth year of programming and gear up for our seventh year, we are enormously grateful for the recognition of our program’s contribution to increasing access to and success in higher education for first-generation college students,” said Audrey Fisch, president of More Than Bootstraps. “This grant from the IECA Foundation will allow us to both sustain support and continue to increase the number of students we serve in Passaic and Plainfield.”

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Grants and donations to More Than Bootstraps fund the monthly stipends that allow the high school and college students in the program some time and space to devote to their professional development and college-going activities while still meeting their financial responsibilities. Interested donors are invited to visit the MTB website: www.morethanbootstraps.org/donate.

About the IECA Foundation

For thirty years, the IECA Foundation has served as the charitable arm of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, the nation’s leading professional organization for educational advisors in private practice. The Foundation leverages knowledge, professional skills and funds provided by IECA members, sponsors, and donors to help underserved students map pathways to success.

More Than Bootstraps is a nonprofit created by educators seeking to level the playing field and remove some of the substantial barriers that first-generation college students encounter in accessing and succeeding in higher education. More Than Bootstraps employs a near-peer mentoring model to create a community of success. College students from the community return to guide their younger peers in the community through the college search, application, and assimilation process. These leaders, working as a mentoring cohort, in turn strengthen their own college-going identities and improve their own chances of success in higher education.

Students are selected based on their desire to attend college and their commitment to the program rather than grade point average or test scores. All students in the MTB program receive stipends, laptop computers, and access to emergency resources to help them with the many non-tuition expenses of higher education. 

More Than Bootstraps is a 501(c)3 organization, Tax ID 83-2245008.

Media Contact:

Audrey Fisch, Ph.D.

President, More Than Bootstraps

(908) 397-0893

audrey@morethanbootstraps.org