Helping youth change behaviors and believe in a brighter future
Spotlight on the work of exalt Youth, a New York City-based organization chosen for the 2025 Youth Skills and Employment Accelerator. It offers education and employment skills that help youth stay away from the criminal justice system.
The word exalt comes from a Latin word meaning to lift up or raise high. And that’s exactly what the nonprofit exalt Youth is doing for young people who have been caught up in the criminal justice system.
By inspiring them to believe in themselves and change behaviors at a critical crossroads in their life, court-involved youth aged 15 to 19 in New York City are empowered to envision a hopeful future and given a pathway to get there.
Exalt Youth’s programs offer life skills, individualized support, and advocacy to navigate the education and justice systems, workforce opportunities through paid internships, and an alumni network for ongoing assistance. This cross-sectoral approach means the organization can positively impact more than 1,100 youth each year in three main areas – criminal justice avoidance, academic progression, and employability.
Exalt Youth graduate Melanie Soto said: “When I was 18 I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. Once I was actually in the program learning the curriculum that was when I was like, now I want more. One of my teachers was the first person to ever say he was proud of me – and that’s what really kept me going and made me want to finish school.” Melanie interned at Mount Sinai Hospital and went on to work as a medical assistant.
Exalt Youth has been chosen by the Global Business Coalition for Education to take part in the 2025 Youth Skills and Employment Accelerator. With employers across all sectors in the United States struggling to find young talent with the expertise they need, the Accelerator is part of a nationwide drive to ensure that by 2030 all young Americans will have the skills needed to find work in a rapidly-changing job market.
The Accelerator equips nonprofits with the tools and support they need to make a real difference in the lives of young people from underserved communities.
Gisele Castro, CEO of exalt Youth, said: “We are embarking on a bold, three-year $50 million strategic plan to scale our proven impact – expanding beyond New York City to reach more youth nationally.
“Our model has transformed the lives of thousands, equipping young people with the education and workforce opportunities they need to advance in life. Through the Accelerator, we will make this dream possible by connecting with visionary partners who share our commitment to youth empowerment at scale.”
We hope to expand employment prospects for both internships and future employment opportunities for our youth
Gisele Castro, CEO of exalt Youth
The success of exalt Youth’s programs is demonstrated in statistics like these:
- 95% of graduates do not lapse back into the criminal justice system (compared to 40-60% nationwide).
- 98% are re-engaged in high school and on track to graduate by age 20 (nationally 67% of incarcerated individuals drop out of high school).
- 100% are matched with paid internship placements into high-growth sectors (against a 25%-60% employment rate for formerly incarcerated people generally).
Exalt’s signature 21-week Core Internship Program is designed to address the interrelated challenges of court-involved youth, which are deeply tied to systemic inequities and racial disparities in the education, employment, and justice systems. Each year, exalt distributes about $1.5 million in internship stipends to participants, the majority of whom are from low-income backgrounds and communities of color.
The program has four components:
- Foundational life skills. Teaches critical thinking, communication, creative problem-solving, and resource management through pre- and post-internship classes.
- Individualized planning and support. Students are helped to navigate the educational and legal systems, progress academically, and overcome personal challenges, including mental health assessments and referrals as needed.
- Paid internships. Diverse career opportunities are offered through partnerships with more than 150 NYC businesses providing internships with a core stipend of $18 an hour, above the minimum wage.
- Alumni network. For long-term engagement, the paid graduate programming (with $20 an hour stipends) includes extended internships, individual counselling, monthly college and career workshops, and college scholarships.
Exalt works with a wide range of stakeholders to support youth. They include court system partners, employers, schools, mental health providers, and government agencies.
The organization believes that its involvement in the 2025 Youth Skills and Employment Accelerator comes at a crucial time, with the launch of a strategic scaling plan to further its mission and increase impact.
Castro said: “We hope to expand employment prospects for both internships and future employment opportunities for our youth; forge workforce development partnerships for supplementary vocational training; and learn from additional youth-serving organizations on their experience serving court-involved youth.”
She said taking part in the Accelerator will also help exalt Youth build strategic partnerships with complementary organizations and access corporate pro-bono support.
Exalt Youth and the other organizations chosen for the 2025 Accelerator will join the alumni network of 28 previous participants which collectively have positively impacted more than 250,000 young people. When they complete the program, nonprofits and their leaders stay in the growing network – helping them to work with others and get peer support.
Businesses that support the Accelerator have opportunities to enhance brand recognition and strengthen community ties. They can also provide pro-bono products and services to support participating organizations.
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