underrepresented-students
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National Math Stars
National Math Stars is a U.S. nonprofit that finds mathematically extraordinary second- and third-graders from all communities and commits to supporting them for up to a decade - through high school graduation. Each selected student receives more than $100,000 in mentorship, advanced coursework, STEM summer experiences, family advising, and community, at no cost to families. Founded in 2023 by former Bain consultant Ilana Walder-Biesanz and seeded with $16.5 million from Carina Initiatives and the Polynera Fund, the organization aims to build a diverse pipeline of talent capable of reaching the frontiers of math and science.
Ilana Walder-Biesanz
Ilana Walder-Biesanz is the founder and CEO of National Math Stars, a nonprofit that finds mathematically extraordinary children as early as second and third grade and gives each of them a decade of mentorship, advising, and funding worth more than $100,000. A child prodigy herself who took college courses at 13 and finished her undergraduate degree at 19, she pairs an engineer's rigor with a theater critic's flair. Before building National Math Stars she was a product manager at Yahoo, a Bain consultant, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, a Fulbright researcher of German opera staging, and a working opera critic. In December 2025, Jeff and Lauren Sanchez Bezos named her one of five recipients of a $5 million Courage & Civility Award.