Women Empowering Nonprofits: Navigating Today’s Social Justice Landscape

In partnership with Brooklyn Public Library's Business & Career Center and Con Edison, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office is excited to host Women Empowering Nonprofits: Navigating Today's Social Justice Landscape in celebration of Women's History Month. 

 

Join us for an empowering panel discussion that highlights the transformative impact women are making in the nonprofit sector, especially within social justice.  Our panelists - Michelle Gall (Digital Girl, Inc.), Gisele Castro (Exalt Youth), Danielle Sered (Common Justice), and moderator Desiree Gordon (Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy) - will share personal stories, valuable strategies, and insights to help you navigate the challenges of starting and leading nonprofit organizations today.

 

This conversation is more than a celebration of achievements—it’s about equipping you with the tools, networks, and inspiration to step into your own leadership role. Whether you’re considering launching your own nonprofit or supporting the work of others, this discussion will empower you to take bold action and create lasting change. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and be inspired to lead with confidence and purpose.

 

Meet our panelists:

 

Michelle Gall - Digital Girl, Inc.

Michelle Gall is a Digital Marketing and Sales Professional. Born, raised and schooled in Brooklyn, New York, Michelle attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Saint Francis College. After conceptualizing her affinity for technology late in her career she recognized a void in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education within inner cities. Always an advocate for education, Michelle combined her passion for helping underserved youth realize their full potential with her love of technology and founded Digital Girl, Inc. (DGI) in 2014. DGI is a 501(c)(3), non profit organization dedicated to empowering inner city youth, especially young girls, to pursue careers and studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines. Now in its 8th year of existence, DGI has instructed over 10,000 participants in STEM Education! 

Michelle has received numerous awards and recognition such as the Special Recognition Award from New York State Assembly Member Tremaine S. Wright, SLICE Award for a STEM Trailblazer, and as one of CNG News Groups 25 Brooklyn Women of Distinction in 2018. She has also been featured as an Inspiring Individual by Titans of Tech, Brooklyn Tech Annual Alumni Celebration and Tech Times in 2020, honored as a Brooklyn Nets 2020 Gravity Blanket Community Hero of NY and then again in 2021 as one of Barclay Centers Essential Together Honorees in 2021 for the work Digital Girl, Inc. continued to offer the community during the pandemic. 

Michelle still resides in Brooklyn, NY with her two young daughters and looks forward to serving the community for many years to come!

 

 

Gisele Castro - exalt youth

Gisele Castro is the CEO of exalt, a non-profit dedicated to elevating the expectations of personal success of court-involved youth ages 15-9 using a cross-sectoral approach that combines a rigorous, culturally responsive curriculum with paid internships and career development.

With 20+ years of experience in the juvenile justice field, Gisele has been widely recognized for her contributions, most notably when exalt, under her leadership, received Brooklyn Org’s Spark Prize in 2018, recognizing the organization’s commitment to racial and social justice. This accolade is one of many, including a recognition from Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez in September 2023 for exalt’s significant contributions to juvenile justice. In October 2023, Gisele received the Community Impact Award from SparkYouth NYC, and a NYC Imagine Award in the leadership category for nonprofit innovation and excellence. Gisele was included in EdLoC’s 2024 Boulder Fund Cohort.

Beyond awards, Gisele Castro’s real impact is seen in the policy changes and practices she has influenced. Collaborating with judges and district attorneys across NYC’s five boroughs, Gisele has been instrumental in securing more equitable sentences for hundreds of youths. Her advocacy also played a key role in the endorsement of NYC’s Raise the Age policy by the Governor, a testament to her commitment to juvenile justice.

Currently, as she pursues an Ed.D at NYU Steinhardt, Gisele engages with a diverse range of leaders at all governmental levels to further her mission. Her work at exalt, which began in Brooklyn, has now expanded its influence throughout NYC and is poised for replication across New York State and the nation. This trajectory from incubation to a recognized, replicable model exemplifies Gisele’s dedication to enhancing our criminal justice system's focus on fairness, equity, and rehabilitation.

 

 

Danielle Sered - Common Justice

Danielle Sered envisioned, launched, and directs Common Justice. She leads the project’s efforts locally and nationally to develop and advance practical and groundbreaking solutions to violence that advance racial equity, meet the needs of those harmed, and do not rely on incarceration.  Before planning the launch of Common Justice, Danielle served as the deputy director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Adolescent Reentry Initiative, a program for young men returning from incarceration on Rikers Island and worked at the Center for Court Innovation's Harlem Community Justice Center.  An Ashoka fellow and Stoneleigh fellow, Danielle received her BA from Emory University and her masters degrees from New York University and Oxford University (UK), where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

 

Danielle has been featured widely in the public conversation about mass incarceration and violence, including the Aspen Ideas Festival the Atlantic Magazine Summit on Race and Justice, in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, on Democracy Now, NPR, and On Second Thought with Trevor Noah. Danielle is the author of The Other Side of Harm: Addressing Disparities in our Responses to Violence, of Accounting for Violence: How to Increase Safety and Break Our Failed Reliance on Mass Incarceration, and the award-winning book Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair.

 

 

Desiree Gordon - Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy

Desiree Gordon is an accomplished Social Innovation Strategist, Impact Investor, Curator, and Creative Wellness Artist. Her practice intersects investing, producing, and partnerships to build pipelines to power, nourish ecosystems of care, and design networks of sustainability resulting in more inclusive, democratic, and imaginative communities. As a people-centered leader, her work achieves impact with skillful blend of creative vision, detailed analysis, and active compassion. She has had the fortune to hone these skills at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Brooklyn Museum, Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute among other institutions and was recognized for this work by the Smithsonian Institute when she was awarded a Reimagining the Museum fellowship. As the Director of Programs and Strategy at the Brooklyn Arts Council she l designed the organization’s first social justice/social innovation investment strategy, established a hybrid digital Wellness platform as a workforce development and social equity initiative, initiated the Thrive Fellowship and ThriveFest convening as the flagship investment of the Brooklyn Innovation Institute. Desiree also designed the organization’s, The Brooklyn Innovation Portal, a digital platform for connecting, commerce, and collective investment in creative ecosystem. In so doing Desiree has directed almost $5 million to artists and youth, organizations and seniors all over Brooklyn deepening critical investments guided by her Creative Equations Impact spheres Neighborhood Impact frame.

Currently, Desiree is the Executive Directive of Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, the premiere Arts organization in Brooklyn using African-centered cultural restitution for community innovation. In this role, Desiree will continue leveraging culture for Creative Equations that respond to issues of wellness, equity, and abundance and joy across a global network of organizations serving black communities.

Finally after being a founding member of multiple performance collectives including Matriarch, and the all women’s sound healing ensemble, Seya, she is currently producing two independent projects: We Fly Home, a sound poem in video format that narrates an immigrant journey from longing to self-ownership, and I Honor Myself,  a 4-song EP.