We believe that making the world more just starts with how we do business and how we work alongside our partners and team members. We are continuously evolving our business practices to align and reflect our values. We work alongside activists, artists, teachers, business owners, story tellers, scholars, advocates, and changemakers at the intersection of multiple disciplines.
We believe every challenge and every client is unique. No two organizations are the same, and neither are our solutions. We work alongside you to develop customized and personalized solutions that meet your specific needs and evolve alongside your organization, campaign, or movement over time.
Understanding structural inequity requires acknowledging overlapping and intersecting social identities. We leverage ever-evolving IDEA Frameworks – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Antiracism. In a world that often sprints toward solutions, we apply intersectional frameworks to understand challenges and identify solutions.
Melissa Young, Founder and CEO:
Melissa is the founder and CEO at The Intersect. A visionary leader – Melissa has worked professionally in social impact, justice, and human rights spaces for over 20 years and has a national track record of catalyzing and advancing state and national justice initiatives alongside a myriad of partners.
Grounded in the perspective that solutions to social and economic inequity should be driven by impacted people and communities, the initiatives Melissa has pioneered are intentionally rooted in communities.
Melissa’s visionary work has sparked national discussion and action around economic justice as a key element of realizing racial justice and human rights. She has stewarded teams of experts focused on health justice and criminal legal reform. And she’s cultivated and led multiple state and national coalitions and initiatives including the only national hub in the country working at the intersection of economic and housing justice.
Melissa holds cross-discipline expertise across a range of justice, human rights, and anti-poverty issues. She has resourced and led field development, capacity building, and technical assistance teams. She has advised on multiple federal agency research demonstrations, worked extensively with federal, state, and local governments and agency
partners, and alongside members of Congress.
Melissa is a founding board member of BAMAH Arts, an advisor to the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments, and sits on the Advisory Board of REALITY a Schusterman Family Foundation Initiative. She has served as a content expert with several philanthropic funding collaboratives and an advisor to the Biden-Harris transition teams.
Melissa received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her M.A. from the University of Chicago.