Okay, okay, good afternoon. All right, awesome. First and foremost, this is really exciting. I'm looking out here just thrilled at so many people that showed up for this. Supporting this initiative, this is just really, really cool. So thank you all for being here. We can time this initiative. This is just really, really cool. So thank you all for being here. Making time this afternoon on a rainy day to join us for this new Michelle Forward, kind of relaunch and partnership. My name is Dwayne Norris, co-founder of Soulful Synergy. Along with my business partner Alejandro, who is always running around doing a million things, but that's how we get a lot done. We're here to kind of showcase what we've been working on as far as this iteration of collaboration with the city, what this program will bring, as far as opportunities, give you a little bit of demo, and hopefully make it a nice, fun, lively, engaging discussion, but also we want you guys to be able to tour and really get a chance to experience and network with one another. I have some special kind of shout outs I want to make. Everything that you see in this space, as far as all the buildouts, everything on the walls, has been upcycled material. We've been blessed to get donations and support from a lot of different community partners to make a lot of what you see here. most of what you see here has been upcycled and I want to give a special shout out if they're in the room Frank Benarialaga, Pedro Chavez, because they have spent a lot of time making sure that this space looks the way that it looks. It has really this custom feel of how the training is going to be designed, which you'll hear a lot more about. Alejandro, my business partner, thank you, brother. It's a beautiful place that you put together, the vision to make all this a reality would not be possible without you, bro. So thank you. Thank you. Applause. Thank you. Applause. When you have some time after the speeches, again, you'll check out the stations, our participants, from the Booker T. Washington program, JP, and Yolisa will walk you through. kind of how the setup is. You're learning everything from basic measurements and linear framing, You're learning the cutting. You're learning hand tools from hammers and wrenches, et cetera. The walk you through kind of the process. And Alejandro will take you through that when we go through the actual program presentation. We try to immerse technology and integrate technology into the training program which we'll also see some of. And just really trying to bring our training into the 21st century into 2025 and the world of AI and everything that's happening, make sure that we're as cutting edge as New Rochelle is. New Rochelle is a beacon for economic development across Westchester County. There's so much happening here in the city that it makes it very exciting to live, work, play and operate here and we are excited to be a part of that. We're very grateful in the city that it makes it very exciting to live, work, play, and operate here. And we are excited to be a part of that. We're very grateful to the city for allowing us to be a part of this partnership. You don't get a lot of second chances in life, and we've been blessed to have one. And to be able to do this with you all and really kind of reimagine this program is really exciting for us. We want to help New Rochelle kind of be a support to the workforce development initiatives that are happening and then be a support to all the local development, the contractors, the stakeholders that are in the room. So again, we're excited because we do have programs launching, cohort one, coming April, ideally April 14th. God willing, everything continues to go smooth as it has been. And second cohort coming in July. Thank Thank you to city manager. Thank you to Mary Adira, Ramos Herbert. Thank you to Kevin, Jorge, Adam, Lisa, Mariana, the entire team that has been so grateful and so helpful throughout this entire process as we've been getting the space ready for you all and it's ready for the programming. I have the pleasure now of introducing, thank you to city council all in the building, but thank you so much for all your support, helping a local organization run by a local New Rochelle resident born in Westchester, raised here from birth, and myself, West Indian, Bronx native, so just really grateful that you're supporting a minority business through this process. I want to spotlight and introduce one of our first speakers and then we'll have a couple more presentations. So first will be the mayor, followed by a city manager and commissioner of development. And you know, you're blessed to have a mayor like Yadira. She is hard working. She's one of the most caring, generous, authentic people that you will meet. She works hard to make this city as effective as it can be. during this this kind of pivotal moment in New Rochelle's transition, I think you all are blessed to have her leadership. So, there. So, good afternoon everyone. It's a pleasure to stand before you and speak about exciting developments happening right here in New Rochelle. And I don't mean the development of buildings and infrastructure, but rather the development of people, opportunity, and progress. And before I continue, I want to acknowledge my colleagues in city government, starting with Shane Oshin-Loyer, our Council Member representing District 4. Our fabulous city manager, Will Melendez, our commission of development, Adam Salgado, and members of his team, I saw Jorge Ventura, Kevin Jimenez, Lisa Davis, Eurisha, I'm probably missing someone. Oh, and our Deputy City Manager, Todd Castaldo. And perpetual thanks to the comms team who often noticed Kathy, Virginia and Tommy for documenting and keeping the memories alive. And so, New Rochelle forward is more than a program. It's a movement. And through this initiative, we are working to ensure that every resident in New Rochelle has access to the skills, training, and opportunities they need to build a successful career. This movement does not happen on its own. It's each of the partnerships represented in this room. The developers, the contractors, the community, the community of the leaders, fellow elected officials, and our training partner soulful synergy, who is Dwayne noted co-founder Alejandro Alvarez is a new racial resident, and I believe it graduates what is it, Trinity, Isaac, the high school, and Iona. And Barnett. There you go. All of us working together to break down barriers, to lift up our residents and create pathways for good paying sustainable careers. I really want to extend my deepest gratitude to each of you in this room who believe in a stronger, more inclusive future for our city. The work we are doing today will shape the foundation for an even brighter tomorrow. Thank you so much and let's keep building New Rochelle forward together. And I have the privilege to introduce Bill Melendez. So thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here. I was here last time for the first time. And it was very impressed by what was going on and what was being built and the skills and being the little background and construction really impressed with what's going on in the program here. So as Newer Show grows into the future, it's critical that we provide the tools to our residents so they can grow. It's more than just the six week training program. It also connects participants to certification courses, the hands-on training, career readiness, case management, and hopefully job placement through our first source referral center. I want to thank Soulful Synergy, their programming, Alejandro Duane for all the work you've done, and also our development department for really spearheading this initiative. This is back in 2024 last year, not too long ago. We sort out to put a program together, emphasis on quality of life. And we look at this workforce training program as part of that work plan for 2025. It's a vital part of our broader efforts to elevate the quality of life in our community. Because as we expand access to stable, well-paying jobs, we are not only empowering our workers, but we're also supporting local businesses and forcing vibrant and resilient city. So it's an important initiative and hopefully these skills are not just what we could use every day but their life long, right? Not only in your workplace, at home and you could transfer these skills everywhere you go in life. So thank you again for inviting me here and being part of this and good luck. Thank you. Good morning everyone I'm Adam Salgado, Commissioner of Development and I am so proud to be standing here today. You know my team and the Department of Development and so full surgery have worked really hard to sort of bring this to life, this vision for New Rochelle forward which is really designed to increase the capacity of our local workforce to meet the demands of the development in New Rochelle, but also of the growing economy in New Rochelle that's resulting from the development that we've seen in the downtown. One of the, you know, Dwayne had mentioned that this is our second bite at the apple working together, and we're really excited because I think we really learned as we've grown throughout this process and they've been very responsive in developing a class offering and the capacity to respond to the growing needs of the workforce here in New Rochelle and so we're really excited to partner them on the green initiatives as we start to build green infrastructure throughout the city. We're gonna be training a workforce to help us maintain and build that and construct that infrastructure. So we're really excited to put together the resources with the human power, with the hearts and minds of the folks in the community that can really together, really grow our great city into the city of tomorrow. So I'm really excited today to be here today and to mix and mingle with all of you and talk about all of the exciting opportunities that we have in New Rochelle. Thank you. Hello everyone, my name is Shane Aschenloyer. I'm the council member for District 4. I'm very proud of New Rochelle today. First of all, the upgrades in this room for anybody that's been in this space from close to the very beginning. I came in close and that knows all of the partners involved. It's just a lot of amazing people working very well together and we are seeing the fruits of their labor over time. Every relationship, every great relationship takes effort, and I think that that's a lesson that all of us could take away from here today. Everybody in this room is a major professional in whatever space that you're in. Please start interacting and working more with each other. There's so much talent in this room, there's so much talent in this team, there's so much talent in our city, and I'm just excited to see all of that come together to build people up instead of tear them down, to give people the skills to move forward into the future and do for their families, do for their careers, do for themselves, and do for society at large. So I'm just thrilled about today, and the food is amazing. Thank you, Duane and Alex, for pulling this all together with your amazing team. Thank you to my mayor, my city manager and my commissioner of development for just having everybody come together. This is a come-to-gether moment and we should all be very proud to just be in this room and that this is a reality that we're experiencing. Thank you. So you've heard it all. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Rashida Okman-Morris and the Assistant Director for Employment Services at West Ham. And just as you just heard, the first source of Pearl Center's located right downstairs, we want to congratulate Sofos Energy on their relaunch of the New Rochelle Forward Program. I just wanted to echo some things that Alex said earlier. I too am a New Rochelle resident, and I am looking forward to see our residents move forward. And we are lucky, we are happy and thank you to the city. We are lucky to be engaged with the participants and we're looking forward to you all, you know, coming downstairs and working with us. We will assist you as well with job placement, with some career development needs that you all may have. And as like you mentioned, we're right downstairs. So we'll be coming in, we'll check in, we'll stop in, you know, just to see how things are moving along with the program. But again, again, congratulations to the Sofosfinity team where you're rela. Team, so I didn't want to say a few words. I first and foremost thank you everyone, City Council, City Management, all of you. Thank you so much for the opportunity again. And again, the team, I just really wanted to come up here. I am going to ask the team to come up, Teddy, you list JP, a, where's a Monty, John, please? Because you know, I can't say nothing without a team, right? It's not just Dwayne and I. So I do want to share this, right? I don't know, my mom here? My mom is somewhere here too. So my mom, where there she goes. So I have to tell you, the reason I share this is because, and it'll be very quick, it's journey, right? My mother got here from Columbia, okay? Did barely you know graduated high school, had once a semester of college, went to work for the Bank of New York, got me, found me somehow, was born in poor chest there. And from there, I went to Barnard, like we said, Trinity, Isaac, Nureshah High School, and I graduated from my own college. So I'm a full-blown Nureshelian. And for me, it's an honor and an opportunity. And it seems to be something that I have to do is to give back here in Nureshel. It gave my mother and I so much. We own our first home. about to be finished paying this off the next one, nine years, eight years, passing on generation or wealth with each other here, right? And now we able to share that with the people that, that. We own our first home. We're about to be finished paying this off the next one nine years eight years Passing on generational wealth with each other here, right? And now we able to share that with the people that that we work with as we said Teddy in the back Nurtial resident you listen from a high school program. Nurtial resident JP Nurtial resident here working with us Franklin. I help us built this all out here Nurtial resident and mining that took our first course Nurtial resident So not only do we train people, but we also hire people that we train. Okay, and we love to... Michelle resident and money that took our first course, Nur-R-Shell resident. So not only do we train people, but we also hire our people that we train, okay? And we love to uplift the people from Nur-R-Shell. Nur-Shell is made of somebody that wrote, and I'll leave it with this last piece, Joseph Campbell. I don't know if you know that, Joseph Campbell's from Nur-R-Shell, okay? Joseph Campbell wrote something very important, which was the heroes were a thousand faces. And the hero's journey is what we pull our people through here. And helping people understand that they're all in their own hero's journey. And as much as people say thank you and they'll say hey, tofu synergy, this, the city's that. Ultimately they're the one waking up every morning. Ultimately they're the one sacrificing and putting in the work. We're just a stage. Just as this right here is set up for me to be able to express myself to you all this space over here is a stage for our residents to express themselves and be the best versions of themselves. Right? And where they can make mistakes, and we're not going to judge, and where we're going to always, always uplift our people. Okay. So thank you again for this opportunity. And I will go over a little bit more about the programming, But again, just thank giving me the opportunity here mom love you thank you so much it always down with and all my baby girl my girlfriend she was here so by the way all the interior design is all her all the nice pictures all the the plants all my girlfriend beautiful girl up me out, help me down. Thank you so much. you