The New Jersey non-profit organization, More Than Bootstraps (MTB), announces the addition of Dr. Susan Suarez to the advisory board.  Advisory board members provide expertise and guidance to MTB as it builds a community of first-generation, underrepresented students who empower each other to access and succeed in higher education.

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.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Suarez join our advisory board,” said Audrey Fisch, president of More Than Bootstraps. “Her expertise and experience as an educator will contribute to the success of our students.”

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.