Exalt Youth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205540955
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
3476216100
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,366,459
Expenses
$7,695,931
Assets
$5,196,818
Liabilities
$1,629,937

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GISELE CASTRO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • GISELE CASTRO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $298,013 total reported compensation
  • MARCELO NIGRI (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $194,040 total reported compensation
  • ANDREA FEDUZI (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $191,708 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Exalt youth serves youth involved in the criminal justice system, moving them away from incarceration towards re-engagement with education and meaningful job opportunities. Our students come from some of the most economically depressed neighborhoods in New York and are often facing potentially life altering circumstances. The exalt mission combines a rigorous curriculum with paid internships and career development to elevate expectations of personal success for court-involved youth ages 15-19. Exalt tracks participant outcomes in three specific areas: 1) criminal justice avoidance; 2) academic progression; and 3) employability. Our model is built upon our tested incubation period at the blue ridge foundation in 2006 and gold star evaluation by john jay research and evaluation center in 2013.

What it reported doing in 2024

Exalt youth is an organization designed specifically for youth involved in the criminal justice system. We serve youth ages 15-19 annually, 71% male, 28% female, and 1% unknown. Program participants come from New York city's poorest zip codes, and all face a host of barriers such as multi-generational poverty, foster care involvement, low educational skills, incarcerated parent(s), racial marginalization, and living in households with little support in which they are often caregivers for siblings or sick relatives. Exalt's signature 21-week core program is designed to address three primary factors: criminal justice avoidance, educational attainment, and employability. The program consists of the following four components: 1) foundational life skills (critical thinking, communication, creative problem-solving, and resource management through pre- and post-internship classes); 2) individualized planning and support (goal setting and effective education/court advocacy strategies to help students successfully navigate the educational and legal systems); 3) paid internships (exposure to diverse career opportunities through our partnerships with over 100 businesses across nyc); and 4) alumni network (paid graduate programming that includes extended internships, individual education/career counseling, and monthly college/career workshops).

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -43.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $298K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $346K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.