Over 30+ years, B. Andrew (Drew) Plant has created award-winning strategic communications solutions for everything from nipple cream to nuclear power generation. He is a strong writer with the ability to create or identify, mimic and refine client brands, both personal & organizational. He also is adept at shepherding a brand’s overall look & messaging + refining, refreshing and/or broadening its vision.
Primarily working with executives, entrepreneurs (esp. serial entrepreneurs) & other professionals, Drew periodically lends his talents to progressive political candidates, and regularly helps a range of nonprofits. His work often – but not always – falls in financial services, fintech, professional services & real estate. Drew’s work supporting DEI efforts is growing; in 2023 he earned a Diversity & Inclusion Certificate through UGA’s Terry College of Business, signifying proficiency with (ISO-30415-2021).
One of Drew’s book client’s manuscripts – about pragmatic implementation of equity programs by leaders – is poised to be purchased by a major academic publisher. Another author working with Drew – as a writing accountability coach, after working together to refine the focus and audience – is developing a series of three business books, one of which helps neurodiverse individuals succeed within a specific industry segment.
Drew has literally been working in his field since high school, first at the local newspaper & then at a local PR firm. He continued with the PR firm until his last year of college, when he joined the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Office of Employee, Government & Public Affairs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications (Advertising) at the University of Tennessee; with his mother, also a UTK Comms grad + lifelong PR pro, he established the Breaking Away Scholarship Fund, annually rewarding courageous, innovative writing across all disciplines at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
He was recruited to Atlanta by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, which also sponsored his master’s degree in public administration at Georgia State. After INPO Drew established the first iteration of Plant Communications, then going to work full-time for one of his clients (Benefits America, later Habersham Funding), a national niche insurance firm for which he was Vice President of Communications & Client Services + Manager of the Benefits America Foundation. His work included representing the company at industry associations & with legislative and regulatory groups, helping draft model legislation (NCOIL, NAIC, LISA).
After five years with BANA/Habersham, Drew shifted to part-time with the organization for two years while launching Plant Communications 2.0, primarily operating as a virtual PR firm and outsourced communications department. Along the way he’s had the opportunity to ghostwrite for Congressman John Lewis and co-write with Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls/op-ed piece) and Dorothy Allison (author/op-ed), among others.
Away from his “day job,” Drew served as Contributing Editor of A&U Magazine, a national nonprofit focusing on the HIV/AIDS crisis, for which he nabbed significant voices to speak about the AIDS crisis through feature articles, interviewing Coretta Scott King, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Richard Gephardt, Howard Dean, Dolly Parton, Patti LaBelle, Tony-award winner Christine Ebersole, Andrew Tobias, Clinton AIDS Czar Sandra Thurman, Dr. Helene Gayle, AIDS activist Mary Fisher, gossip doyenne Liz Smith and others. Lesson: If you ask people – including famous people – for help (and figure out the win-win), they’ll step up.
Board service includes Star-C, a non-profit “edu-housing” model, providing afterschool and other services within affordable housing communities. Drew eventually worked with Marjy Stagmeier, Star-C-s Founder, to pitch her book, “Blighted,” landing a publishing contract. He also served on the board of Action Cycling Atlanta, which produces the annual AIDS Vaccine 200 cycling event, from which 100 percent of proceeds go to the Emory Vaccine Center. In early 2024 he was appointed a member of the Planning Commission for Brookhaven, GA.
Away from work Drew enjoys DIY home & yard projects, cooking and family; he recently completed a stand-up comedy class that culminated with a graduation comedy show at The Punchline. He continues to do periodic stand-up gigs and is at work on both a farcical novel and a children’s book. Drew and his Realtor husband are longtime residents of LaVista Park, an intown Atlanta neighborhood.