Nina Gorbenko

San Francisco, California

Summary

Creative Director and 0-to-1 builder with 13+ years across brand events, experiential programs, and brand-from-scratch launches. Most recent: led TEDxLosAltos Women—100% positive attendee satisfaction across 100+ guests with a 40+ person production team, a benchmark outcome that prompted the global TED organization to ask how it was achieved. 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 New York Times, The Economist, and CBS News, and a decade-long partnership with an artist studio working in code, AI, XR, and robotics with permanent work at Stanford and Pioneer Works. Most interested in building owned event programs and culture-making brand moments at AI-native companies.

Experience

TEDxLosAltos Women
Independently produced TED-licensed event spotlighting women’s voices in tech, art, and culture.
Creative Director (Contract)
San Francisco Bay Area · Oct 2025 – Present
  • 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 an immersive, multi-sensory event environment spanning stage identity, spatial storytelling, audience flow, sponsor activations, and gift design.
  • Owned event budget, vendor sourcing, sponsor activations, 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
Los Angeles / New York / San Francisco · May 2015 – Present
  • 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
San Francisco Bay Area · May 2015 – Present
  • 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)
Los Angeles, CA · Jul 2022 – Nov 2022
  • 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 (Contract)
Los Angeles, CA · Feb 2022 – Aug 2022
  • Co-launched and operated B2B AI-assisted news platform serving enterprise customers including The New York Times, 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.
  • Ran day-to-day operations, hiring, and onboarding across a fully distributed editorial team of 50+ contributors.
De’Longhi
Art Director (Contract)
New York, NY · Jun 2019 – Mar 2020
  • Led creative direction and full execution of North America product campaigns: concept → shoot production → styling → post-production delivery.
  • Partnered with marketing teams to align creative output with brand positioning and campaign goals.
lessless
Direct-to-consumer brand launch—joined when only a name, product, and logo existed.
Founding Brand Lead (Contract)
New York, NY · Aug 2018 – Apr 2019
  • 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

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
Kyiv, Ukraine · Mar 2014 – Aug 2014
  • 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
Kyiv, Ukraine · Aug 2012 – Mar 2013
  • 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.

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

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).