Dr. Melanie Jones Gast is an Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Louisville (UofL). In 2023, she was named the UofL College of Arts & Sciences Diversity Champion for her commitments to dismantling unjust structures. Her research uncovers intersectional dimensions of power and inequality, racial in(ex)clusion, and the structuring of support in schools, community programs, and higher education. Dr. Gast has four main research areas on: (1) intersections of race, class, and gender in college transitions, counseling, and support relations; (2) racial and class disparities in support for college preparations and integration; (3) faculty of color and women faculty experiences in higher education; (4) racialization, language, and class and gender hierarchies shaping the in(ex)clusion of immigrant youth and parents of color in community organizations and school programs. She has published in journals, such as Du Bois Review, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Journal of Adolescent Research, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Multicultural Perspectives, Race, Ethnicity, and Education, Social Science Research, Sociology of Education, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Socius, Teachers College Record, and Urban Education, and in edited volumes, such as Care-Based Methodologies, Supporting College Students of Immigrant Origin, and Latinx Belonging: Community-Building and Resilience in the United States.