About

Castel Sweet, PhD is an embedded sociologist and community builder who works at the intersections of community, culture, and race, with a focus on placemaking and place-based engagement. Through her academic and community-based endeavors, Dr. Sweet bridges diverse perspectives and inspires action centered on the needs and experiences of those impacted. Her work embodies her belief in the transformative power of community engagement and storytelling.

Driven by a passion for creating spaces where individuals and communities can thrive as their whole, authentic selves, Dr. Sweet is a practitioner-scholar dedicated to empowering organizations and communities to achieve sustainable, community-driven transformation.

Currently, she serves as the Director of the Center for Community Engagement and Assistant Professor of Practice in Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi. In this role, Dr. Sweet cultivates mutually beneficial partnerships that connect the university with the broader community, emphasizing collaboration, structural change, and authentic relationship-building.

In addition to her academic and community work, Dr. Sweet co-founded Blue Glass Jar Farmacy with her mother and grandmother. This venture reflects her commitment to sustainability and holistic wellness, offering eco-friendly, plant-based skincare solutions that prioritize environmental and personal health.


Awards & Honors

National Coalition of Health –
Culture of Health Leadership Institute for Racial Healing
(Cohort 3)

2024 Mississippi Business Journal 40 Under 40

2020 Dayton Business Journal Forty Under 40

2020 Ambition List Honoree

Midwest Campus Compact Engaged Scholar

2020 Women of UD

Current Board and Community Service

Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film – Board Member

Oxford Film Festival – Board Member

Lafayette Community Remembrance Project Steering Team – Co-Facilitator

Past Board and Community Service

YWCA Dayton, Board Member, 2020-2021

Dayton Young Black Professionals, Advisory Board, 2019-2021

Re-Imagining America: Dayton, OH, Design Team, 2018-2021