Viktoria Marinova

Viktoria is an international Ph.D. candidate turned faculty who has spent over ten years working within the media industry developing audiovisual content, marketing strategies, teaching, and managing various organizations and projects. She was born in Bulgaria but immigrated to South Africa at an early age and grew up there. Over the duration of her Ph.D. Viktoria has focused on the power of social media for social change and has shaped her research towards understanding the decision-making process individuals embark on when donating to nonprofit organizations through social media.

She has received her M.A. in Communication and Development in 2018, and M.A. in Public Administration in 2019 both from Ohio University. As a graduate student at OHIO, she has been the recipient of several leadership awards and has held leadership positions in Graduate Student Senate (GSS), International Student Union (ISU), and the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) office. She has also spent the past five years working as a Marketing and Social Media Strategist for Social Enterprise Ecosystems (SEE) as well as the Sugar Bush Foundation (SBF). This has allowed her to work with many local community-based nonprofit organizations and social enterprises where she has assisted clients with creating and maintaining a solid overall online presence. This includes the development and execution of social media strategies and campaigns, as well as website development and redesigns. She has also been an instructor of record for the School of Media Arts and Studies since 2019 where she has developed and taught classes as part of the Social Media Certificate Program and has led a team of students who manage the school’s social media channels through the Social Media Storytelling Lab.

Viktoria is a dedicated social media strategist who specializes in empowering organizations and teams to take control of their online presence. Through tailored workshops,she helps clients develop effective social media strategies that drive engagement and build strong digital communities. With a passion for teaching and a deep understanding of the evolving social media landscape,Viktoria ensures that each workshop equips participants with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the digital world.

She has work experience in the combined areas of marketing, communication, project management, event coordination, content development, and journalism. As a Project Manager at Primedia back in South Africa she planned and executed projects on a national level. She also developed integrated marketing campaign plans with the purpose of increasing awareness for the business through planned public relations, advertisements, identifying possible sponsorships, and networking opportunities. She prides herself on being a good communicator, who enjoys being creative, leading teams, and educating students.

Viktoria believes in maintaining a balanced life and enjoys staying active, meditating, dancing, gardening, relaxing with her partner, participating in university activities, and working hard on academics. She is a proud mom of 4-fur-children of the feline nature (although she is more of a dog person). She hopes her cats will one day make her a famous TikTok influencer, but until then she will stick to just posting videos of them as a way to entertain others and relax herself. You will usually find Viktoria outdoors gardening or going for walks, or indoors watching something fun on Netflix.