exalt

I'm thrilled to congratulate my esteemed colleague and friend, Grace C. Bonilla, Esq., President and CEO of United Way of New York City, on her well-deserved recognition as 'Woman of the Year' by the New York League of Puerto Rican Women. Grace's tireless efforts to improve lives across our city exemplify true leadership. Her work resonates deeply with our mission at exalt, and I'm honored to stand alongside her in service to New York's communities. Congratulations, Grace! #WomenInLeadership #CommunityHeroes" 

I'm proud to have joined the morning keynote panel at the 2024 PASE Annual Conference today. We explored strategies to move special populations from the margins to the center in afterschool programs. This aligns directly with exalt's mission to elevate the personal expectations of court-involved youth by reconnecting them to their love for learning through culturally relevant curricula, mentorship, and meaningful paid work opportunities. Thanks to Fatima Shama, Joshua Laub, and Peter Ng-A-Fook for the engaging discussion! @pasesetter #PASE2024 #YouthEmpowerment #AfterschoolPrograms

Today we observe Juneteenth, which marks the day when the last enslaved people held in Galveston, Texas were reached with the news that slavery had been ended by the Emancipation Proclamation two years prior. That transformational day over 150 years in the past is more relevant today than ever before. We honor our ancestors and draw strength to continue the pursuit of true equity and liberation for all. When we think about mass incarceration, we understand the ways in which it is a continuation and modern manifestation of systemic racial disparities.  America continues to lead the free world in locking up its citizens, with persistent and troubling demographic trends. According to the Vera Institute,  Black men comprise about 13 percent of the male population, but about 35 percent of those incarcerated. One in three black men born today can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime, compared to one in six Latino men and one in 17 white men. Black women are similarly impacted: one in 18 black women born in 2001 is likely to be incarcerated sometime in her life, compared to one in 111 white women. Last week, we held our 2024 Annual Gala, which was themed Innovation over Incarceration.  At exalt we know that by deeply investing in our youth with novel but proven concepts -  such as our unique education and internship model -  we are bringing opportunity to young people that is indeed a solution to incarceration. Our graduates (less than 5% of whom recivitate and 95% of whom are advancing academically 2 years post graduation) are proof that there is another way to approach youth who find themselves going down a troubling path. By intervening with youth we can interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and begin to address the carceral state and the inherent injustices it sustains. Today, our headquarters remain shuttered so that all our staff and our youth may have time to reflect on how far we have come and how far we have yet to go achieving true racial equity.  I wish everyone peace today.  I will close with this excerpt from Paulo Fiere’s groundbreaking 1968 work, “the Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” which serves for us as a  guiding principle: "Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”

At our Spring Gala on Tuesday evening, we welcomed our guests into the breathtaking and sacred space at Trinity Church Wall Street. It was an evening filled with hope, healing, and gratitude for those who have held themselves accountable to 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩’s mission and our youth. We had the pleasure of honoring several individuals who have used their leadership to create a more just and prosperous future for our youth, including our 2024 Spring Gala Honorees, Michelle Henry, Region Executive, Community Engagement at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and SUNY Chancellor John King, and Elizabeth Elston for her service on the exalt Board of Directors, and our Freedom Fund Scholarship recipient and exalt alumnus Khamel Terry. The message I hope people walk away with is this: As it relates to ending mass incarceration, 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩 is the solution. We know that young people who come to 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩, even those with the most serious charges, not only escape the system but truly turn their lives around. I thank you in advance for supporting 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩 in our efforts to expand and bring our proven solution to thousands of young people who deserve better opportunities throughout the five boroughs and beyond. I appreciate your commitment to our youth and your generosity.