Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Syracuse Common Council met at 11:00 a.m. on 2026-10-28 with Exalt CEO Giselle Castro and Chief Program Officer Jason Aline to receive an update on Exalt's first pilot implementation in Syracuse, New York. City staff also explained that the program is funded through a state grant administered by the city. No formal votes were recorded.
The meeting adjourned with Council members thanking Exalt for the presentation.
Okay, where else that was called o'clock? Okay. It's eleven o'clock. Good morning, everyone. Blessings to all today. We are here to have a meeting with organization that um holds the exalt program. And but we're here with my um other fellow counselors, um, President Helen Hut. I mean, oh Lord. It was been she's been the president so long, so she's still counselor, president counselor, how about that? Um, we're here with Donald Moore, Counselor Donna Moore, Counselor Nave, um, myself, Rashida Caldwell, and um my counselor uh Patrona Jones Rouser. So introduce yourself today, please. Good morning, everyone. My name is Jason Aline, I am the Chief Program Officer at Exalt. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for a meeting with us. I'm Giselle Castro, the CEO of Exalt. Awesome, thank you. Is your mic? Yes. Okay. Yes, it's recorded. Okay, good. Thank you. So you guys have the floor. All right, well, thank you so much for meeting with us, and we came in today to give an update on Exalt, the implementation process of the organization, and also uh to answer any questions, and we're so grateful for the opportunity to be here, and more specifically and importantly, the funding that has enabled us to garner various successes while here. Of the organization. For some of you, you may know that in 2024, we started the implementation process, understanding whether we could come into Syracuse, New York. Uh, this is based on the board indoors strategic plan to consider replication, and we deemed that Syracuse had the strongest alignment for various reasons. One is that there was a lot of similarities with the young people, where they are in their academic standing. Also their history in the judicial system, and more importantly, you know, looking for opportunity to begin to think about the world of work. From that point, we gather various convenings, and we met with close to 80 of the stakeholders here in Syracuse, New York. Some of them came to New York City, met with some of our judges, internship providers, our board members, our funders, and we also met with back then Deputy Mayor Owens as well to really understand whether there would be alignment. And in 2026, we implemented the first pilot class while pause there so that Jason could walk us through the actual model and then what we have learned so far, what has been some of our successes, and then um open up, you know, to hear from from you all, from everyone. Good morning again, everybody. Um, so exalt services, 15 to 19 year olds who fall on the spectrum of criminal justice involvement, supporting them in three key pillars, which are academic advancement, increased employability through career exploration, and avoidance of further interactions with the criminal justice system. Uh we have a referral-based program. We receive the majority of our offers directly from the New York City judiciary and all the different players that encompass it. So that is from all five borough DA offices, as well as private attorneys, police officers, um, independent, independent legal uh serving nonprofits. Uh, and so we receive roughly about 1,400 referrals a year in New York City. In addition to the judiciary, we also get referrals from different CBOs and even individuals that have graduated the program, done well and then are now referring friends and family who could benefit. Um, so our program, once a young person is referred, each individual goes through an exhaustive intake