Cristo Rey Network honors ’40 Under 40′ alumni
Cristo Rey Network honors ’40 Under 40′ alumni, including three Verbum Dei grads
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.