At this Boyle Heights Catholic school, education is a shared undertaking. Alumni raise money, outside partners bring art and music, and tuition assistance helps families get through the door.
Silvia Scandar Mahan is the President and CEO of Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School, a Catholic college-preparatory institution in San Jose's East Side that integrates professional work experience into its curriculum for students from underserved communities. A Harvard economics graduate and Georgetown Law alumna, she came to education through a winding path that took her from Skadden Arps to e-commerce entrepreneurship to social impact filmmaking, before finding her calling advocating for educational equity. Named a 2022 Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and Woman of Influence, she leads a school where 98% of students enroll in college and 100+ corporate partners — from Cisco to NVIDIA to Kaiser Permanente — employ students one day per week to fund up to 50% of their tuition.