Board of Directors
Audrey Fisch
Dr. Audrey Fisch is a Professor of English and has taught for over thirty years at New Jersey City University (NJCU), a public institution that serves HSI, first-gen, and Pell-eligible students. She recognizes the talents and resilience of her diverse, mostly first-generation students and has a keen understanding of the many challenges they face in getting to and succeeding in higher education. A passionate advocate of access and inclusive excellence, she founded and serves as president of More Than Bootstraps.
President
Matt Jackson
Matt Jackson is Director of the Center for Innovation (Tower Hill Educational Hub-THE HUB) at Tower Hill School in Delaware. He was an educator and coach for 18 years in Dallas and New York City after working for investment banks after college. Matt has taught computer science for grades 6-12 and created the civil rights history course, Civil Rights Through the Eyes of Soul Music. Matt served as a teacher and mentor with the Bickel & Brewer Foundation Future Leaders Program, a public-private partnership with Dallas Public Schools and several private schools in Dallas. He is a graduate of Amherst College with a B.A. in History and a M.A in Education with a focus on Educational Technology from Pepperdine University.
Vice President
James Taylor
Jim Taylor is President of Mercator Advisors LLC, a financial consulting firm. He served as a member of the Board of Education for the Port Chester Public Schools in Port Chester, New York, from 2008 to 2011.
Treasurer
Susan Suarez
Dr. Susan Suarez is a high school English/Language Arts teacher in the Baltimore County Public Schools. In her 14 years of experience working in urban high schools, including in Jersey City and Elizabeth, Dr. Suarez has emphasized critical thinking and problem-solving, focusing on the 21st-century skills needed to succeed in college and beyond.
The youngest of six children born to Cuban immigrants, Dr. Suarez was the second of her siblings to graduate from college and remains the only child in her family to earn a master’s degree or a doctorate. Aware of the struggles first-generation college students face, she interweaves the navigation of college systems into her instruction as early as freshman year. She created and implemented dual-enrollment English, which she co-taught with a university professor, ensuring students would have first-hand experience with a university course before attending higher education.
Secretary
Atiya Stokes-Brown
Atiya Kai Stokes-Brown is Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Coastal Carolina University. A dynamic leader with 15 years of experience teaching and conducting research at the university level, she has worked collaboratively in numerous capacities across the college community, demonstrating strong academic and administrative leadership, and a deep passion for liberal arts education.
Diversity Officer
Claire Strom
Claire Strom is an educator and administrator at Rollins College. Over the past two decades, she has worked in a variety of higher education institutions, including two Research I universities, a two-year satellite school, and a small liberal arts college. Her experiences have given her a strong understanding of the key trends in education nationally and internationally, an appreciation of shared governance, and a commitment to diversity, access, and inclusion.
Board Member
Carl Salisbury
Carl A. Salisbury is an attorney with a national reputation as a policyholder lawyer who has more than thirty years of experience helping companies and individuals resolve insurance disputes. He has been listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” for Insurance Law from 2006 to the present. Mr. Salisbury also sits on a number of non-profit Boards of Directors, including the Westfield YMCA. He is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Westfield Arts Collective, which operates the Center for Creativity at the Rialto in Westfield, NJ.
A first-generation college student, he received his undergraduate degree in history, magna cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire and his law degree from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the Wake Forest Law Review. He served as a Judicial Clerk for the Hon. Reynaldo G. Garza of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit before entering private practice. Mr. Salisbury is a partner and leads the Commercial Litigation and Insurance Recovery Group at Bramnick, Rodriguez, Grabas, Arnold & Mangan.
Board Member
Ricardo Ortegón
Ricardo Ortegón is the Founder and President of GPS College Guidance, a college admissions consulting organization based in the Washington, DC area that works with students and their families navigating through the college preparation, selection, and admissions process. He has over 25 years of direct experience working in admissions, academic advising, and student success in colleges and universities throughout the country and has extensive experience guiding underrepresented, first-generation, and international students through the admission process.
Ricardo earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Texas A&M International University and his doctorate degree in higher education administration from Northeastern University.
Board Member
Cassandra Crawford
Cassandra Crawford is a senior graphic designer who has been working in the field of design and branding for over 15 years, Cassandra has a passion for social welfare and community impact. She has worked with more than 15 nonprofits across the country, many on a volunteer basis, and contributes her time and skills because she believes in the collective power of community. Cassandra also likes to spend some of her free time crafting goods that are donated to local animal sanctuaries.
Board Member
Advisory Board
Dawn Wilson
Dawn M. Wilson brings nearly fifteen years of college access and success experience to the More Than Bootstraps Advisory Board. Dawn currently serves as the Associate Director of the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), where she aids in program and scholar development. Prior to joining PUPP, Dawn served as the inaugural Director of College Success for Cooperman College Scholars (CCS), where she supported the scholars on all points related to persistence and retention.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Dawn is a proud product of the New Jersey public school system, having been educated there from elementary through graduate school. Dawn earned her Master’s in Counseling from The College of New Jersey, is currently working towards her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist, and will begin her doctoral work in counseling in September 2021. As a first generation graduate herself, Dawn embodies her personal ethos: “be who you needed when you were younger.'' This sentiment fuels her work, allowing her to meet students and mentees where they are and aid in their “becoming”.
Advisory Board
Janely Jose
Janely Jose is Assistant Principal of the Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering in her hometown of Passaic, NJ.
Born of Dominican parents, she is a first-generation college graduate of The College of New Jersey. She has 15 years of teaching experience, most of which she spent teaching English at Passaic High School, her alma-mater. She also served as the advisor and instructor for the Peer Leadership Program, in which seniors mentor freshmen students in their transition into high school. Janely is also the founder of STRIVE (Students and Teachers Reviving and Instilling the Value of Education), established in 2011, which is a club at Passaic High School that organizes various school-wide events and initiatives that promote a culture of academic success.
Janely holds an M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership and M.A. in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University. It is her passion to serve and give back to the community which has shaped and empowered her as both a student and an educator.
Advisory Board
E.J. Mitchell
E.J. Mitchell is a Senior Educational Consultant at ESC, an educational consulting company that provides academic enrichment and college counseling services for Chinese high school students and their families as they navigate education systems in the United States, Canada, and the UK. EJ is a Questbridge scholar and a graduate of Amherst College, where he majored in Asian Languages and Civilizations with a concentration in Chinese language and contemporary history.
Advisory Board
Hannah Seaman
Hannah Seaman is a Video and Motion Graphics Editor based in Tucson, Arizona. She holds a degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from Hampshire College, where she was immersed in a community of freethinking individuals from diverse backgrounds.
In her career, Hannah has specialized in nonprofit marketing and storytelling, working to inspire support for causes benefiting people, pets, and the planet. She enjoys collaborating with changemakers across the country to bring their projects to life, connect with audiences on an emotional level, and work toward a better future.
Advisory Board
Juan Rengifo
Juan Rengifo is an AVP and Branch Manager for Citizens Bank (formerly Investors Bank of New Jersey). He is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. Juan’s previous work experience includes managerial roles at PSEG, Jersey Central Power & Light, Merrill Lynch, Popular Community Bank, PNC Bank and Acme Markets.
No matter where he has worked, he has always enjoyed customer service. He works best when he knows that he is assisting others in achieving or accomplishing something that will make a difference in their life. His own personal experience of being a first-generation student is what makes his work with More Than Bootstraps most meaningful for him.
Advisory Board
Margarita Fuentes
Margarita Fuentes is a Spanish Teacher at the Buxton School. A first-generation and low-income college graduate from Passaic, New Jersey, she majored in American Studies and minored in Caribbean Studies at Wesleyan University with a concentration in Race and Ethnic Studies. She has a passion for community building, having been a Resident Advisor for the Social Justice house on campus.
Margarita’s Passaic background and immigrant parents have influenced much of the work she has taken part in, including an immigrant grassroots organization in Connecticut. Margarita plans to use her skills to provide support and community to students and families in More Than Bootstraps.
Advisory Board
Jayashree (Jay) Shivamoggi
Dr. Jayashree (Jay) Shivamoggi, the founder and former director of the Office of External and Competitive Scholarships at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, has helped hundreds of students pursue a wide variety of competitive fellowships and scholarships. She served on the Executive Board of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors for four years. Dr. Jay is currently an independent consultant who works with high school students, undergraduates, and students applying to medical school, law school, and graduate school.
Advisory Board
Cindy Goldman
Cindy Goldman, a graduate of Case Western Reserve Law University School of Law, began her law career in New York City working for a large firm specializing in the defense of medical malpractice and products liability cases. She transitioned to commercial law and served as the head of litigation at Credit Agricola Indosuez. After September 11, she changed course in her career, returning to school to earn a school counseling degree. She then worked as a guidance counselor for 10 years at Rahway High School in New Jersey. Cindy introduced and ran several programs in Rahway to help first-generation and low-income students reach their goal of accessing higher education. Cindy retired in December 2021 but continues to mentor students.
Advisory Board
Claudia Severino
Claudia Severino is currently an English Literature teacher in Passaic County Technical Institute. In her 10 years of experience working in urban school districts, she has focused on ensuring her students are aware of their full potential and prepared to exceed in higher education and beyond. As the first of her family to attend and graduate college, Ms. Severino has a unique perspective of the specific challenges incoming college students face in higher education. As a former Fulbright English Teaching University Assistant in Colombia (2015-2016), she also designed creative methods to propel students towards success in a college setting. She believes that all students should have the privilege of attending and succeeding in a university setting if they so choose to attend.
Advisory Board
Madz O’Brien
Madz O’Brien is a Post-Production Coordinator for Irving Harvey and Freelance Producer in South New Jersey. A recipient of the National Hispanic Recognition Award, she graduated from the University of Arizona in 2019 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Film and Television and two minors in Psychology and Theatre Arts. She began volunteering as a video editor in 2021, collaborating with organizations around the world to create meaningful content to aid with education and fundraising.
Raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Madz spent her summers mentoring middle school students for Full STEAM Ahead at the Colorado Springs School, providing experiential learning opportunities. She also worked at Columbia University’s High School Summer Immersion Program in New York City where she served as a Resident Assistant and Teaching Assistant for Digital Filmmaking.
Advisory Board
Lee Hernandez
Lee Hernandez is the owner of THE LEE AGENCY, a 10-year old boutique PR agency that represents actors, filmmakers, comics, athletes, entrepreneurs and other creators. Prior to launching THE LEE AGENCY in 2015, Lee worked as a writer and editor at several best-in-class publications. He served as Editor of Latino Voices at The Huffington Post, Deputy Editor and Senior Editor at Latina Magazine and as a contributor to People magazine. Lee is a graduate of Saint Peter’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a minor in Philosophy.
Advisory Board
Felix F. Fernandez Pizzi
Felix F. Pizzi, MSEd, LCMHC, NCC, CCMHC, has dedicated the last 20 years of his career to working in College Health and Student Affairs focusing on student well-being, medical and mental health care, suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and basic needs support. In his current role as Assistant Vice President for Student Health and Well-Being at Southern New Hampshire University, he oversees services for 3,000 campus students and digital wellness and mental health resources for more than 200,000 online learners.
Advisory Board
Former Board Members
Irma Maini
Former Board Member
Michael Sowell
Former Board Member
Shannon Yau
Former Advisory Board
Maria Zamora
Former Advisory Board
Juliana Londoño
Former Advisory Board