Start a conversationBuilt on experience · Grounded in community · Focused on impact
Move forward with purpose.
Strategic consulting, facilitation, training, and visitor engagement support for organizations that steward important stories and serve diverse communities.
Our ethos
Meaningful change begins with listening, understanding context, and designing strategies that reflect the people and places an organization serves.
Experience & partnerships
Organizations that shape our experience.
Leadership and collaboration across public service, culture, history, and community.
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC)
Department of Parks and Recreation, Prince George's County
Natural and Historic Resources Division (NHRD)National Park Service
Smithsonian
America250
What we do
Good intentions.
Intentional practice.
Every engagement is customized, practical, and grounded in mission, community, and public trust.
View our capabilities overview ↗Planning & strategy
For leaders navigating change, competing priorities, or an important new opportunity.
Typical deliverables
- Strategic and implementation plans
- Organizational assessments
- Mission-aligned decision frameworks
Training & staff development
For teams that need greater confidence, shared language, and practical ways to put values into action.
Typical deliverables
- Customized workshops and learning series
- Facilitator guides and staff tools
- Professional-learning frameworks
Facilitation
For organizations working through complex decisions, sensitive subjects, or the need for stronger alignment.
Typical deliverables
- Leadership and staff retreats
- Community and stakeholder conversations
- Action-focused meeting design
Visitor engagement & interpretation
For institutions seeking more accurate, welcoming, and relevant experiences for the communities they serve.
Typical deliverables
- Interpretive-language and content audits
- Visitor-engagement assessments
- Interpretive frameworks and staff training
Who we serve
For organizations doing public-facing work that matters.
We partner with leaders who value reflection, ethical practice, staff development, community connection, and meaningful change.
01Museums & historic sites
02Cultural institutions
03Government agencies
04Parks & recreation
05Educational organizations
06Nonprofits & community organizations
07Art spaces & creative communities
How we work
Responsive to your context. Practical by design.
Listen
We begin with the people, places, histories, and communities that define the work.
Understand context
We surface patterns, clarify the real challenge, and shape ideas that fit your organization.
Design for action
We create practical frameworks, training, and processes built for lasting impact.
Work in practice
Heritage & cultureEngagement in progressTurning staff insight into a practical visitor-engagement framework.
A nationally significant historic site wanted to strengthen how staff welcome visitors, share information across departments, and approach difficult historical conversations. Zazo Brown designed a 35-question survey and analyzed responses from 25 staff members and volunteers to establish an evidence-based foundation for action.
The challenge
Confidence was strong, but inconsistent information, departmental silos, wayfinding concerns, and uncertainty around difficult visitor interactions affected the experience.
Our work
Survey design, qualitative and quantitative analysis, leadership recommendations, retreat planning, and scenario-based staff learning.
What it is creating
A Four C’s framework—Confidence, Consistency, Clarity, and Capacity—supported by practical tools, shared standards, and training designed for real-world use.
About us
Large-system experience. Community-level understanding.
Led by Jennifer Zazo-Brown and Terry E. Brown, Zazo Brown Consulting Group is a collaborative practice with more than 50 years of combined experience across cultural institutions, public service, education, nonprofits, and community organizations. Our experience spans nationally recognized institutions—including the National Park Service and Smithsonian Institution—as well as small nonprofits, galleries, artists, and local partners. That range helps us connect strategy with lived reality.
CEO and Principal Consultant
Leadership
Jennifer Zazo-Brown
Jennifer Zazo-Brown is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Zazo Brown Consulting Group, where she partners with museums, historic sites, and cultural organizations to strengthen audience-centered interpretation, visitor engagement, organizational strategy, and institutional planning. With more than 17 years of leadership experience at the National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution, Jennifer has designed and facilitated professional development programs for museum professionals nationwide, specializing in ethical interpretation, collaborative facilitation, strategic partnerships, and organizational change. Her work helps institutions navigate complex histories while building trust, fostering meaningful visitor experiences, and aligning interpretation with organizational values. Jennifer is passionate about creating engaging learning environments that empower museum professionals to move beyond conversation and translate ideas into practical, sustainable action within their own institutions.
Explore Jennifer’s Leadership Through the Years
Managing Partner
Leadership
Terry E. Brown
Terry E. Brown is Managing Partner of Zazo Brown Consulting Group, where he draws upon more than three decades of leadership in public service, historic preservation, visitor engagement, organizational development, and partnership building.
During his National Park Service career, Terry held senior leadership positions at nationally significant sites, including Superintendent of Fort Monroe National Monument, Chief of Visitor Services and Engagement for the National Parks of Boston, and Site Manager of Boston African American National Historic Site.
Read Terry’s full biography
At Fort Monroe, Terry expanded community engagement, strengthened educational and institutional partnerships, developed new visitor experiences, and advanced a fuller interpretation of the site’s nationally significant African American history. His leadership of the 2019 commemoration marking 400 years of African American history received a National Park Service Director’s Award for fostering racial unity and healing.
Terry later served as Director of Federal Partnerships for America250, coordinating collaboration among federal agencies in preparation for the nation’s 250th anniversary. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Grambling State University.
Before we begin
Questions are part of the process.
A strong engagement starts with clarity. These are some of the questions organizations ask before beginning work with us.
01What kinds of organizations do you work with?
We work with museums, historic sites, cultural institutions, government agencies, parks and recreation organizations, educational institutions, nonprofits, and community-based organizations doing public-facing work.
02What can a consulting engagement include?
An engagement may include organizational assessment, strategic planning, facilitation, interpretive or visitor-engagement review, customized training, staff tools, leadership recommendations, and an implementation framework. The scope is shaped around the challenge—not a preset package.
03Can you provide a stand-alone workshop or staff retreat?
Yes. We design practical workshops, learning series, leadership sessions, and staff retreats. Each experience is grounded in your organization’s context and gives participants language, tools, and practice they can use in their work.
04Can you help staff approach difficult histories or challenging visitor conversations?
Yes. We help organizations strengthen historical interpretation, staff confidence, dialogue skills, de-escalation practices, and shared expectations—while respecting institutional mission, evidence, community, and public trust.
05What happens after we send an inquiry?
We begin with a focused conversation about your challenge, the people the work needs to serve, your timing, and the outcome you want. From there, we recommend a practical next step and, when appropriate, prepare a tailored scope of work.
Strategic.
Responsive.
Transformative.
Impact.Ready when you are
What could move forward
with the right conversation?
Tell us what your organization is working through, who the work needs to serve, and what a successful outcome would look like. We will respond with a practical next step.