Jessica Word is an associate professor and also serves as the associate dean of Research and International Programs in the UNLV Honors College. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy and a Master of Public Administration from Florida State University.

Her research focuses on capacity building in the public and nonprofit sectors. Her work has been published in Public Administration Review, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Personnel Review, Public Personnel Management, the Journal for Nonprofit Management, Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion, and The Innovation Journal. She has worked with such notable national nonprofits as the Girl Scouts of the USA, Volunteers of America, and Opportunity Knocks on issues related to employee engagement and burnout. She also co-edited The Nonprofit Human Resource Handbook with Jessica Sowa. The book received the Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations (SPALR) Book award for outstanding book in 2019 at the American Society for Public Administration Annual Conference.