Toma Lazarenko

Ukreate Hub – a Vilnius based competence center, dedicated to displaced Ukrainians in Lithuania, equipping them with knowledge, skills, network, and other tools to unleash their potential for the future of Ukraine. My main goal was to create an active community of specialists from Ukrainian cultural sector abroad.

- Studied the interests, needs, opportunities of the community (Cultural Cluster)
- Developed a six-month community-building plan
- Organized 5 events in 4 months, attracting 100 attendees (39% were first-time participants, 8.5% found out about the hub through these events)
- Created a Telegram chat with 60 participants to support activists
- Led 6 strategy sessions with hub management
- Shared detailed reports about outcomes and insights with the team

Navzaem app is an online networking platform for creative professionals (https://app.navzaem.com). We are on the stage of MVP, a web app helps specialists to search and match with colleagues according to their skills, experience and needs.

- Initiated and managed the development of an IT product from concept to launch
- Raised 20K € from donor for launch of prototype
- Handled user research and confirmed product hypothesis
- Employed and managed remote team of 8 to achieve product goals
- Identified and mitigated risks including dealing with conflicts
- Attracted 1800 users to the app in the first six months, no ads needed
- Ranked in the top 20 Civic Tech Startups in Ukraine in 2023
- Pitched Navzaem app at European and Ukrainian events
- Prepared reports for stakeholders and donors

Navzaem - multidisciplinary community with 6000 specialists from culture sphere, public sector & creative businesses for communications and partnership: https://navzaem.com/

- Developed product from scratch
- Piloted range of prototypes during project initiation
- Successfully bid for 15 k € from Ukrainian Funds
- Explored avenues to achieve financial viability
- Recruited and managed a diverse team of 3 remote workers
- Built active community of 6000 people
- Set up 7 long-term ongoing partnerships

“Cultural Agency A” developed projects for change makers, activists, creators, cultural workers and youth. Main aims are education, promotion of democratic values through science, culture and social innovations. The most famous project of Agency A is Plan B festival (https://planbfest.com), an international event about social innovations and new music, based in Kharkiv.

Creative Management Camp is an educational platform designed to help cultural specialists sharpen their entrepreneurial, leadership and project management skills.

- Initiated and sustained an independent educational product for 5 years
- Developed over 25 educational programs focusing on entrepreneurship in the creative sector
- Organised 120 events with around 1000 attendees in total
- Mentored 12 interns, guiding their growth into proficient PR and event management professionals
- Made the product financially independent within just 1 year

With 10 years of experience, I excel in developing communication strategies for non-profits, cultural events, festivals, conferences, and social projects. My work focuses on enhancing brand visibility, media relations, and stakeholder engagement.

- Communication Strategy
- SMM Strategy
- Media Coordination
- Lead promo teams
- PR Budgeting
- Event & Content Production