Local businesses invest in the future of Atlanta high school students

ATLANTA — Local businesses are partnering with students at an Atlanta high school to open them to a world of possibilities throughout the school year.

The companies not only invite students from Atlanta’s Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, but they also invest in their futures by covering part of the cost of their college preparatory education.

It offers students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds a first-hand look at career opportunities they may never have thought possible.

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One day a week, junior Yeydy Dominguez goes to Bank of America Plaza in downtown Atlanta to work at Prime Revenue.

This is after working at Haverty’s and the Latin American Association as a freshman and sophomore.

“I learned how to manage my time and I learned how to organize myself, follow conversations and just be more confident in myself,” Dominguez said.

She now wants to become an entrepreneur, like Prime Revenue CEO PJ Bain.

“When we started, we were a small startup just trying to figure out how to make an impact,” Bain said.

Two decades later, Prime Revenue is impacting the global financial supply chain in 90 countries and the future of its team of corporate work-study students like Dominguez.

“If you don’t see these things, you have nothing to aspire to. You don’t know that this is a path available to you,” Bain said.

Prime Revenue has sponsored a team of four students for a decade.

This is manager Tonja Rhodes’ first year leading a team.

“She actually makes me look really good.” I’m not going to lie! » Rhodes said.

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Rhodes credits the students for being mature, studying quickly, and throughout the year he enjoys witnessing the biggest lesson they learn: where they belong.

“Being put in a box is very common and knowing that you don’t have to stay in that box makes all the difference,” Rhodes said.

Bain said the investment in sponsoring a Cristo Rey team benefits the student, the business and the community.

“You see them change the course of their lives by more than two degrees. They are taking advantage of these opportunities,” Bain said.

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