Who We Are
Dr. Deena Class has often been described by colleagues and clients as “The Lorax.” She brings deep dedication to inviting the voices of diverse communities into research, strategy, engagement, communications, and implementation work. Having spent close to a decade living and working in seven countries spread across four continents, Dr. Class brings a unique breadth of cross-cultural lived experience to the work of Word & Plant. She leverages a rigorous professional skillset, deep passion for people and nature, as well as unbridled intellectual creativity to help clients and partners better serve their communities.
Having worked for many years with federal government clients in strategic communications and implementation, Dr. Class brings her professional expertise in consulting together with her lifelong passion for nature to advise public partners, gardens, parks and green spaces and help them better connect with and engage the communities they serve.
Our Services
Assessment & evaluation
Interpretive Communications
Strategy & Planning
Community and Stakeholder assessment & engagement
IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) consulting and planning
Training & Capacity Building
Testimonials
Deena Class has been a fantastic partner with the North Carolina Botanical Garden and provided an exceptional service! Her stakeholder engagement and research has contributed to the Garden’s vision of creating welcoming and inclusive interpretive materials that are responsive to a diverse audience. She has a very creative and unique way of synthesizing the data and sharing relevant stories that truly resonated with Garden staff. And, her work has provided so much more than we could have imagined! The knowledge the Garden has gleaned through her process has tendrils that connect across our organization that will help us support community interests in so many ways into the future. She also taught us how to do this stakeholder engagement ourselves — she was so generous with her knowledge and skills!