News
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded a $2 million grant to Cleveland's St. Martin De Porres High School. The four-year grant will financially strengthen the school’s Corporate Work Study Program, focusing on supporting student job placements at Cleveland-area non-profit organizations.
As part of the national Cristo Rey Network, Saint Martin de Porres High School integrates a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with four years of professional work experience. This innovative model helps underwrite the cost of education while preparing students for both college and career. Through Corporate Work Study, students report to work at Cleveland-area organizations one day each week, building confidence, professional skills, and resumes that often match or exceed those of college graduates. By the time they graduate, students will have completed 1,200 hours of workplace learning, giving them a strong foundation for long-term academic and career success.
The Mandel Foundation’s investment will enable Saint Martin to deepen partnerships with mission-aligned non-profit organizations, increasing opportunities for students to contribute to and learn from institutions dedicated to community impact.
“This extraordinary grant allows us to honor Saint Martin’s commitment to preparing our students not just for college and career, but for lives of faith, purpose, and service,” said Chaz Napoli, President of Saint Martin de Porres High School. “We are grateful to the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation for recognizing the importance of real-world learning and for helping us create pathways where our students can contribute to organizations that are making a difference in Cleveland.”
New and expanded non-profit work study partnerships made possible by the grant will help underwrite job placements at organizations that often operate on limited resources. These valuable partnerships offer students hands-on experience in fields such as community development, health and human services, the arts, education, and civic engagement. The experiences help students explore career interests, develop professional networks, and gain hands-on skills that they can carry with them in their future careers.
“The Mandel brothers were committed to strengthening Cleveland's non-profit ecosystem and creating pathways to economic opportunity in the communities where they grew up and built their business. Saint Martin de Porres High School is a neighborhood anchor in St. Clair-Superior, and we are proud to invest in expanding non-profit partnerships for its Work Study program,” said Dr. Jehuda Reinharz, President and CEO of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. “The Foundation’s support will advance several priorities we care deeply about —strong non-profit leadership and youth development that expands economic opportunity benefiting students, the organizations they serve, and the wider community.”
Saint Martin de Porres High School serves as a national model for integrating academic excellence with career preparation. The Mandel Foundation’s investment reinforces the Foundation's longstanding commitment to human capital and economic development, particularly for youth in Cleveland, Ohio.
About the Organization
Founded in 2003, Saint Martin de Porres is a Catholic, co-educational high school located in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland. As a member of the national Cristo Rey Network of schools, Saint Martin is one of 41 network high schools that uniquely integrates four years of rigorous academic curricula, four years of professional work experience, and robust support to and through college. Serving students from families of limited financial means, Saint Martin empowers students to change the trajectory of their lives through education. The school’s alumni base is over 1,200 men and women, many of whom were the first in their families to attend or graduate from post-secondary education. Learn more at saintmartincleveland.org.
