St. John’s Joins Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School and Student Sponsor Partners in Insurance Industry Workforce Development Plan

St. John’s University, Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, and the nonprofit Student Sponsor Partners (SSP) have committed to a groundbreaking workforce development partnership that will provide 20 Cristo Rey Brooklyn students with paid work-study experiences at leading insurance companies across New York City. 

The partnership, announced October 29 at a ceremony at the University’s Manhattan, NY, campus, creates InsureFutures, a program designed to strengthen the education-to-career pipeline for students and address the need for workforce diversification in the industry. Nine industry-leading insurance companies attended the ceremony, with more expected to commit resources next year toward maintaining at least 20 student internships annually. 

Participating Cristo Rey Brooklyn students will receive priority admission consideration to St. John’s Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science, positioning them for careers in the insurance and risk management sectors. The Greenberg School was recently ranked 11th nationally in U.S. News and World Report’s evaluation of the top undergraduate insurance programs.

“If a 16- or 17-year-old student works in an insurance company and sees that it is a pretty dynamic industry, and you add the social skills you develop while in high school, you cannot put a price on that,” said William J. Janetschek ’84CBA, ’17HON, Chair of the St. John’s Board of Trustees and retired Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. “I am incredibly excited about how this program has developed, and we are about to lift off.” 

Mr. Janetschek is a longtime supporter of St. John’s, Cristo Rey, and SSP, and his philanthropy was instrumental in establishing the partnership. SSP, based in lower Manhattan, utilizes education and mentorship to help New York City students in underserved communities reach their full potential. Cristo Rey Brooklyn, located in the East Flatbush neighborhood, is a member of the 41-school Cristo Rey Network, the most extensive network of secondary schools in the country serving students and families of limited means. 

From the internship program, Cristo Rey Brooklyn students will receive on-the-job training in all aspects of the insurance industry, mentorship, access to professional networks, leadership development, education, and career pathways that foster lifelong success. 

Several Cristo Rey Brooklyn students have already begun internships with insurance companies and spoke glowingly of the experience.

“It has taught me how to work effectively and pay attention to detail, which will help me in any career I choose,” said NiCara Spencer, a junior at Cristo Rey and a Student Associate in the marketing department at Starr Insurance in Manhattan. “Even though I am only a high school student, I feel as if I can learn new skills and contribute in a real way.”

“I have had three internships already and I could be adding another one,” added Karizma Martinez, a Cristo Rey junior and student intern in the technology department at AEGIS Insurance Services, Inc. “It looks good on your résumé and college applications. Cristo Rey Brooklyn is one of the only schools in New York where students ages 14 to 17 can have experiences like this.”      

Under the partnership, student work-study placements are hosted by leading New York City-based insurance companies, including AEGIS; AXA XL; Chubb; Everest Group, Ltd.; Marsh; Starr; The Hartford; The Travelers Companies, Inc.; and Vantage Risk. Ideally, students will continue their education at the Greenberg School, and the combination of high school work-study and a St. John’s degree will help them launch their future careers. 

Thirteen graduates of Cristo Rey Brooklyn currently attend St. John’s, according to Alan Garcia, Vice President, Corporate Work Study at Cristo Rey Brooklyn. Maciek Nowak, Ph.D., Dean, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, where the Greenberg School is housed, welcomed nearly 100 representatives of St. John’s, Cristo Rey, SSP, and insurance industry partners to the formal document signing.

“In less than a year, we have created this, and it just shows you what can be done when you have an incredible idea and everyone pulls together for the same cause,” Dean Nowak said. “It was awesome to see these nine insurance companies step up when we did not know how this program might work.”  

SSP Executive Director Debra De Jesus-Vizzi used SSP resources to obtain a high school internship at the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, which she said, “truly shaped my professional journey.” Ms. De Jesus-Vizzi noted the potential of the St. John’s-Cristo Rey-SSP partnership, including its ability to reshape the insurance industry.

“Education is the vehicle that can change kids’ lives,” she said. “This corporate work-study program is the ideal laboratory for this experiment to grow and create the next generation of industry leaders. And, then you add the great tradition of St. John’s, where success is not measured only in grades, but in character, and we are just so proud to be a part of this.”