WESTFIELD, PLAINFIELD, and PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY – June 16, 2026

More Than Bootstraps (MTB), a New Jersey non-profit organization, is thrilled to announce that one of our students, Disha Rana, has been awarded a 2026 CME Group Foundation Scholarship. Disha was selected for this renewable scholarship in recognition of her academic accomplishments, leadership potential, financial need, and commitment to expanding opportunity through the fields of finance and technology as a first-generation college student. The award carries both substantial financial support and access to leadership and professional development, including a one-day market education program at CME Group in Chicago in August 2026.

Disha Rana is a first-generation college student from Passaic, New Jersey. A graduate of Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering, Disha is pursuing a 4 + 1 Accelerated Master’s Program in Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence at Stevens Institute of Technology. This summer, Disha is serving as a Green Teams Intern at PSEG. Disha was an MTB High School Fellow from 2023-2025, mentored by an MTB College Student Leader. Since beginning college, Disha has continued in MTB as a College Student Leader, providing mentorship for two high school students as they navigate the college application process and prepare for success in higher education.

Disha says, “Receiving the CME Group Foundation Scholars Award is something I am deeply grateful for. Growing up as a first-generation student from Passaic, New Jersey, I understood early on that financial access and financial knowledge are not equally distributed, and that gap is exactly what I want to spend my career closing. This award gives me the breathing room to fully invest in my 4+1 Accelerated Master's Program in Business Analytics and AI at Stevens and continue building toward the work I care most about: using finance as a tool for systemic change in communities like the one that raised me. I hope that seeing a first-generation student from Passaic and Gandevi, Gujarat, recognized in this way reminds other students from underserved communities that these rooms were built for them too."  

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.

“As we wind down our sixth year of programming and gear up for our seventh year, we are thrilled to see students like Disha receiving both recognition and substantial financial support,” said Audrey Fisch, president of More Than Bootstraps. “Disha's academic success and commitment to giving back to others in her community are emblematic of the MTB vision.”

Interested donors are invited to visit the MTB website: www.morethanbootstraps.org/donate.

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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 CME Group Foundation

Since its launch in 2019, the CME Group Foundation has awarded more than $4.3 million in scholarships to over 120 students at 12 partner colleges and universities in the U.S. Following an update to the program requirements in 2024, the CME Group Foundation Scholars Program now awards up to $20,000 to first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds who are studying in the fields of finance or computer science and are current or rising undergraduate sophomores, juniors or seniors; the award is renewable for three years. While many scholarships help freshmen start college, the CME Group Foundation Scholarship program works to ensure rising sophomores and above can complete their degrees and access career opportunities. 

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