U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
Brand, website, and the events that put Ukraine in front of Washington.
Role: Creative Director · Washington, D.C. · 2022–present
Scope: brand system, website, print & policy reports, advocacy events, email & social
Results
- +100% social audience in two years
- 400+ email campaigns, +35% open rate, +25% click-through
- 60+ events and webinars produced
- +40% engagement from multimedia (video, motion, infographics)
- Delivered by directing a 4–10 person freelance roster
One person made a small foundation perform far above its size.
The problem
A 35-year-old foreign-policy foundation with an urgent mission and the visual identity of a much smaller organization. During the most consequential stretch in the history of U.S.-Ukraine relations, the Foundation had to make its brand, its digital presence, and its events carry the authority of an institution, on the budget and headcount of a small nonprofit. There was no in-house creative department. There was me.
What I did
I own the entire creative and communications function. I built a single brand system that unified everything the Foundation puts into the world: the Friends of Ukraine Network policy reports, the website, email, social, and event collateral all speak the same visual language now. To produce at institutional scale on a nonprofit budget, I run a lean model. I direct a rotating roster of four to ten freelance designers, photographers, and video editors, plus a few interns, so the output looks and moves like a full agency.
The events
The Foundation’s advocacy depends on events that put Ukrainian voices in front of the people who shape U.S. policy. I produce them end to end, from policy briefings to the Freedom on Fire documentary premiere with the Embassy of Ukraine: the event identity, the printed program, stage and screen graphics, invitations, and the donor materials that turn a seat in the room into funding for the mission. That premiere is one of the 60-plus events I’ve produced here.
Selected work
Brand system and website. Friends of Ukraine Network brochures and the 2024 Policy Recommendations for U.S. Assistance to Ukraine report. The Freedom on Fire documentary premiere campaign with the Embassy of Ukraine. World Refugee Day editorial. The Foundation’s YouTube channel.
