Nina Gorbenko
San Francisco, California
Summary
Creative Director and 0-to-1 builder with 13+ years developing original event concepts, experiential programs, and brand-from-scratch launches, from large-scale conferences to intimate, invite-only communities I’ve founded and run myself. Recently served as consulting creative director for The AI Rabbit Hole, a private AI conference in San Francisco gathering leaders from companies like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Stanford HAI. Led TEDxLosAltos Women, delivering 100% positive attendee satisfaction with a 40+ person production team. Track record building event programs and brands from raw IP to live in market: diagnostics, strategy, vendor and budget ownership, and on-site execution. Long history at the intersection of brand, AI, and builder culture: co-launched a B2B AI editorial platform serving The Economist, and CBS News. Most interested in building owned event programs and culture-making brand moments at AI-native companies.
Experience
The AI Rabbit Hole (MadHats)
Private AI conference for founders, builders, investors, and researchers; 600 capacity, 4th annual edition.
Creative Director (Consulting)
- Consulted as creative director on the 2026 conference (600 capacity), contributing creative direction and experience design within The AI Rabbit Hole’s established Alice in Wonderland concept: spatial storytelling, environmental identity, and attendee journey.
- Designed and owned end-to-end the 70-person, invitation-only after-party: an elevated private experience built around a stand-up show performed by the founders and investors themselves; Nick Davidov, Partner and co-founder of DVC (Davidovs Venture Collective), publicly wrote that it was “officially the best-looking event he’s ever been to.”
- Conference speakers included leaders from OpenAI, Perplexity, Stanford HAI, Anthropic, Databricks, Khosla Ventures, and Weights & Biases.
TEDxLosAltos Women
Independently produced TED-licensed event spotlighting women’s voices in tech, art, and culture.
Creative Director
- Led creative direction and end-to-end experience design for the flagship TEDx event; delivered 100% positive attendee satisfaction across 100+ guests, a benchmark outcome that prompted the global TED organization to ask how it was achieved.
- Built and directed a 40+ person production team across contractors and cross-functional partners; owned creative vision from concept through on-site execution.
- Designed the attendee journey across stage identity, spatial storytelling, environmental design, audience flow, and gift design.
- Owned sponsor activations end-to-end: from sponsor strategy through on-site execution and post-event reporting.
- Partnered with the lead producer on event budget, vendor sourcing, and on-site production logistics, from creative brief through post-event measurement.
- Owned brand voice and copy across all event-facing communications; presented creative strategy and experience concepts to executive stakeholders and sponsors.
Nina Gorbenko Studio
Independent creative studio for brand campaigns, experiential concepts, and content production.
Founder & Creative Director
- Founded and lead an independent creative studio delivering brand campaigns, content production, and experiential concepts for consumer and cultural brands across NY, LA, and the Bay Area.
- Direct end-to-end production across photography, digital, and experiential activations: from concept and creative brief through vendor management, on-site execution, and post-production.
- Direct multi-market shoots and creative teams; manage vendor and agency rosters, budgets, and production logistics. Full-production engagements scale to 10–25+ people on-site.
- Clients include De’Longhi North America, Evapolar, TIJN, NoorNoir, Everlasting Candles, and Glaze; partner with founders and brands to translate identity and product narratives into audience-driven experiences.
- Editorial and brand work featured in Vogue, L’Officiel, Marie Claire, and Drift Magazine (LA-issue cover, 2025).
Pashkovsky Studio
Practice of artist Oleg Pashkovsky working at the intersection of code, AI, XR, and robotics.
Artist Manager
- Long-term creative and management partner; studio work includes a permanent Morphogenesis installation at Stanford’s Bass Biology Research Building, the Pioneer Works technology residency, and a featured commission on One Times Square (May 2019).
- Originate and manage external curator and gallery relationships that drive the studio’s commissions and public placements.
- Provide curatorial input across the studio’s body of work: vetting concepts, reviewing works-in-progress, and shaping how pieces are positioned for audiences, press, and curators.
- Own photo documentation across the studio’s projects since 2015, the primary visual archive of installations, code-based works, and AI/XR experiments.
- Collaborate as choreographer, curator, and on-camera performer on recent video and motion-graphics projects exploring real-time AI and code-driven imagery.
TTSWTRS
Internationally distributed fashion brand expanding into the US market.
Brand & Growth Lead (Contract)
- Joined to assess US-market performance: diagnosed e-commerce funnel and product issues, identified conversion gaps, and rebuilt the path-to-purchase end-to-end.
- Audited prior marketing campaigns and historical performance; developed a new brand and growth strategy spanning positioning, channel mix, creative direction, and customer acquisition.
- Led execution of the new strategy alongside founders, e-commerce team, and creative team, aligning product narrative, marketing campaigns, and commercial goals.
- Owned the full operator arc: diagnostics → strategy → campaign execution → measurement.
Now in Ukraine
B2B AI-assisted news platform aggregating, verifying, and translating real-time content for global press.
COO & Editorial Operations Lead
- Co-launched and operated B2B AI-assisted news platform serving enterprise customers including The Economist, CBS News, Business of Fashion, and Tokyo Broadcasting System.
- Built editorial workflows and hiring systems combining human editors with AI tooling to scale verified output under high-pressure conditions.
- Hired, onboarded, and led a permanent team of 30+ editors and translators across a fully distributed organization, building hiring processes, training infrastructure, and operational rhythm from scratch.
lessless
Direct-to-consumer brand launch, joined when only a name, product, and logo existed.
Founding Brand Lead (Contract)
- Built the brand end-to-end from concept through market launch: strategy, positioning, visual identity, copy, product naming, and e-commerce.
- Defined brand strategy and positioning from scratch; established the look-and-feel, voice, and customer narrative.
- Wrote all product naming, product descriptions, and brand copy across web, e-commerce, and social.
- Directed photo shoots and brand asset production, translating positioning into a cohesive visual identity.
- Owned website and e-commerce build through to launch, taking the brand from raw IP to live in market.
Additional Experience
Literary & Poetic Salon Series
Invite-only literary and poetic salons for founders, VCs, and creatives in the Bay Area.
Co-founder & Creative Director
- Co-founded and creatively directed an intimate salon series at the intersection of aesthetics, storytelling, and community, designed to introduce vulnerability and depth into high-performance professional circles.
- Designed each gathering as an immersive experience: spatial design, program curation, and tonal direction. Built an ongoing cross-disciplinary community across tech, culture, and investment.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met’s MediaLab residency program at the intersection of art, technology, and audience experience.
MediaLab Researcher
- Embedded in the Met’s MediaLab program, partnering with artists and technologists in residency on innovation projects at the intersection of art, technology, and audience experience.
- Translated artist and technologist experimentation into strategic recommendations for curatorial, marketing, and digital teams, helping a 150-year-old institution define how it shows up across emerging platforms.
Front Pictures
Creative tech studio building immersive multimedia experiences; clients include Disney Channel, Coca-Cola, MTV, Eurovision, America’s Got Talent, and the National Space Center.
Copywriter & PR
- Developed messaging, content, and PR materials for an experiential technology company delivering global multimedia projects.
- Translated complex engineering and immersive-tech concepts into accessible client- and press-ready narratives.
Shcherbenko Art Centre
Leading contemporary art space in Kyiv with biweekly exhibition programming.
Art Manager & Editor
- Managed exhibition programming, biweekly openings, festivals, and audience engagement at one of Kyiv’s leading contemporary art centers.
- Coordinated artist relationships, cultural programming, and donor and collector communications; contributed editorial content for Bottega magazine.
ICTV (International Commercial Television)
Ukraine’s first non-governmental national channel, covering approximately 95% of the country.
Journalist & Reporter
- Reporter for weekly news programming, then produced segments for an entertainment show about Ukrainian socialites.
Skills
Brand Events & Experiential:
Owned event programs, brand activations, conference and booth strategy, sponsor activations, workshop and roundtable formats, on-site production
Creative Direction:
Spatial storytelling, environmental design, brand identity, photography and art direction, copywriting, attendee journey design
Operations & Production:
Vendor and agency rosters, budget ownership, multi-market production, timelines and playbooks, post-event measurement
Brand & Growth:
0-to-1 brand builds, positioning, campaign strategy, e-commerce funnel diagnostics, founder partnership
Cross-functional Leadership:
Brand × product marketing × comms × growth, executive stakeholder presentation, contractor and team management (40+)
Curatorial & Cultural Practice:
Artist management, curatorial input, photo documentation, sculpture and ceramics, cultural programming
Education
Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University
Journalism
Journalism
Residencies & Recognition
Summit at Sea, Artist in Residence, Photography (2023): Selected for Summit’s flagship invite-only gathering of founders, creatives, and cultural leaders; created and presented photographic work documenting the community, conversations, and atmosphere of the voyage.
TEDxLosAltos Women (2025): 100% positive attendee satisfaction across 100+ guests, recognized by the global TED organization.
Photography: Vogue, L’Officiel, Marie Claire, Drift Magazine (LA-issue cover, 2025).
Sculpture: TERAVARNA “9th PORTRAIT” exhibition (2024); Boomer Art Prize finalist (2024); featured artist in Al Tiba Magazine and Bernardita Things (2024).