Minnesota Business Leaders Honor Cristo Rey Jesuit High School with Minnesota’s Future Award

The Minnesota Business Partnership (MBP) today announced that Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis will be presented with the 2022 Minnesota’s Future Award. Since 2006, the Minnesota’s Future Award has recognized high-performing, diverse schools or education programs for their success in helping all students succeed.

Cristo Rey will be honored tonight in front of 1,000 business, civic, and political leaders at the Minnesota Business Partnership’s Annual Dinner at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Cristo Rey President Jason Morrison and Cristo Rey alum Jackie Cruz Tapia will deliver brief remarks at the event.

Founded in 2007, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is a Catholic high school in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. The school’s students come exclusively from families of limited economic means and 99% are students of color. Cristo Rey partners with local employers on an innovative Corporate Work Study Program in which students work one day a week at a participating employer. Their unique educational model has yielded extraordinary results, with over 85% of graduates enrolling in college after graduation.

“Minnesota business leaders understand that for our state to continue to thrive, we need to develop a high-caliber, diverse talent pipeline, and we need all students to be ready for their future,” said Charlie Weaver, Executive Director of the Minnesota Business Partnership. “Cristo Rey’s innovative college and career preparatory approach is giving students the tools they need to succeed in school and the workplace.”

Jason Morrison, President of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, said: “We are grateful to the Minnesota Business Partnership for this incredible honor. The unwavering commitment of students, families, faculty, staff, business partners and benefactors has resulted in a closing of the opportunity gap in the Twin Cities and lives being transformed.”