MILWAUKEE, WI (June 2, 2021) — Phoenix Investors and The Crivello Family Foundation recently gifted $1 million to Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee. Cristo Rey owns and operates a Catholic high school, located at 1818 W. National Avenue, Milwaukee, that serves and educates young women and men of all faiths from families with limited financial means. Through its Corporate Work Study Program, Cristo Rey partners with Milwaukee companies of all sizes and industries to provide students with both a meaningful work experience and the ability to fund an excellent education.
After opening its doors in 2015, Cristo Rey quickly outgrew its space in the renovated St. Florian Parish school building. In response, Cristo Rey acquired an 8-acre parcel on National Avenue in Milwaukee and built a new high school using a combination of donations and debt. Phoenix Investors and The Crivello Family Foundation responded in kind to support Ignite. Invest. Impact. The Campaign for Cristo Rey Jesuit. The gift will allow Cristo Rey to pay off a substantial amount of the remaining debt incurred to acquire the property and build the new high school. As recognition for their gift, Cristo Rey will name its athletic field “Phoenix Field.”
“I first learned of Cristo Rey in 2004 when it was featured on a 60 Minutes segment. I was moved. I too am a first-generation American,” said Frank P. Crivello, Chairman & Founder of Phoenix Investors. “A female student was featured in the segment. She obtained a full scholarship to Ohio Xavier University. As she and her mother cried over the joy of being the first in her family to attend college, I remembered being 9 years old as my sister Madeline did the same, and how she and my parents cried. Madeline went to Harvard for her undergraduate education and then Yale Medical School. In 2014, we learned Cristo Rey planned to open a Milwaukee school and we began by joining its Corporate Work Study Program. Following the remarkable work of Andy Stith, Fr. Johnson, and the entire Cristo Rey team, we decided to show our appreciation and commitment with a $1 million gift. My family has enjoyed the American dream. We are grateful to share our success with others so deserving of a chance like the one I, my brother, and sister had.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the generous gift from Phoenix Investors and The Crivello Family Foundation,” said Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Milwaukee President Andrew Stith. “They have seen first-hand the impact a Cristo Rey education can have on our students and community through our Corporate Work Study Program. This transformational investment in our mission will allow us to continue to provide the facilities and opportunities necessary for current and future students to become leaders in the Milwaukee area in the years to come.”
