(OSV News) ─ A national system of Catholic high schools, launched to meet the needs of underserved families, is honoring alumni who have become leaders in an array of industries -- and in their communities.
The Cristo Rey Network announced its second cohort of "40 Under 40" honorees March 10, highlighting graduates who are shaping the fields of law, banking, finance, education, health care, media, science, technology and other sectors.
The network -- which now encompasses 40 schools across the nation serving 12,600 students, with 31,120 graduates to date -- traces its roots to Chicago Jesuits who in 1993 began seeking ways to provide low-income and immigrant families with access to quality, affordable education. Working under the order's provincial, Jesuit Father James Gartland even went door-to-door throughout the city's Pilsen neighborhood to poll families, and his recommendations led to the 1996 founding of Chicago's Cristo Rey Jesuit High School.
Cristo Rey schools, locally owned and operated, must be "explicitly Catholic in mission" with church approval, college preparatory and dedicated to low-income students of various backgrounds, according to the network's website.
The schools are also distinguished by an employment component -- a business model developed by founders to ensure financial viability by having students work five days per month, with the earnings helping to fund their education. Cristo Rey's Corporate Work Study component, which complies with federal and state child labor laws, now sees students gaining experience at companies such as American Express, Google, Nike, Eli Lilly and Colliers International, as well as federal agencies such as NASA and the Federal Reserve Bank.
The 2025 "40 Under 40" list shows the fruits of that model, honoree Dominique Jordan -- a 2009 graduate of Verbum Dei Jesuit High School in Los Angeles -- told OSV News.
"I can say without a shadow of a doubt, outside of God's grace, for me Cristo Rey was the 'jet setter' of the path I'm on today," said Jordan, executive director and wealth adviser for the Jordan Group at JP Morgan Wealth, based in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Century City. "Ultimately, if it had not been for Cristo Rey, I might have ended up in a similar field, but I definitely wouldn't have excelled in this way ... over the last 17 years."
Jordan, who went on to graduate from Georgetown University after attending Cristo Rey, has also been able translate his education and experience into aid for those reeling from January's devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
"A lot of families were impacted, but ... being able to own property and to offer homes for displaced families and opportunities for people to just get back on their feet is part of the mission for me as well," he said. "Being in a position of service ... in my opinion is what the Cristo Rey model is (designed) for students to embody, regardless of what field you're in."
Jordan pointed to the "real, honest conversations" he had with Cristo Rey educators in discerning his career path.
Similarly, fellow "40 Under 40" honoree Adriana Garcia said her Cristo Rey work study experience with a Columbus, Ohio, construction company helped her to quickly refine her college major and professional aims.
"During my final year at Cristo Rey, I expressed my interest in civil engineering to my supervisors at Corna Kokosing (now CK Construction Group), a construction management company in Columbus, Ohio," she told OSV News. "After that, they made sure to schedule construction site visits so that I could learn as much as possible."
After her 2020 graduation from Cristo Rey Columbus High School, Garcia received her bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Dayton, Ohio, and now works as a civil engineer analyst with Kimley-Horn and Associates, a national engineering and design firm.
Reflecting on the arc of his life since his freshman year in high school, Jordan said, "I would say Cristo Rey has been the catalyst for everything."
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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
