Gabrielle Hester

Experience Designer & Marketer

gabrihester@gmail.com
gabriellehester.com
linkedin.com/in/gabriellehester
New York City

Experience

University Career Center & The President's Promise, UMD Jul 2025 – May 2026

Marketing Designer

Reach 10,000+ students annually by designing career fair and campus event materials end to end.
Kept every touchpoint on-brand across 3 major career events serving 100+ employers and 2,000+ students, by owning event signage, pamphlets, and brochures from concept to print.

Startup Shell, UMD Sept 2024 – May 2026

Director of Programming

Raised orientation-to-space retention to 70% (from ~30%) by rebuilding new-member onboarding around a hands-on egg-drop activity.
Rebuilt the club's Instagram voice around real documentation and recaps, growing content reach over 160%, instead of one-off invite graphics.

Digital Infuzion Jun 2025 – Aug 2025

UX Design & Marketing Intern

Streamlined how reviewers evaluate government RFP responses by designing the UX for an AI-assisted proposal system across 2 interface iterations.
Earned staff trust in AI-generated drafts across 3 major proposal cycles by presenting to a panel of 5 executives.
Kept writers driving proposal strategy by rebuilding the interface from a single flat prompt into guided, Mad-Libs-style inputs across two design iterations.

Amazon Project Kuiper Sept 2024 – Dec 2024

UX Designer, via App Development Club

Delivered weekly design updates to Amazon leadership over a 4-month engagement by building high-fidelity satellite-anomaly dashboards.
Kept 16 engineers aligned on interface decisions by collaborating through the project's full build cycle.
Built the project's full design system and a 25-slide handoff deck from scratch, after self-teaching the orbital mechanics and signal models the dashboard needed to visualize.

Abercrombie & Fitch (Hollister) Aug 2024

Brand Marketing & Experiential Design Fellow

Won a nationwide fellowship, 1 of 50 applicants selected, by pitching a full brand campaign concept.
Presented directly to A&F executive directors by building Hollister's "Denim Darlin'" campaign end to end across 3 pillars: consumer profiles, trend forecasting, omnichannel assets.
Won over executives with a give-back charm bracelet concept, donating 15% of each purchase to Flying Horse Farms, while leading marketing for a 7-person team.

Student Entertainment Events, UMD Nov 2023 – Jan 2025

Marketing Director & Promotion Team Lead

Grew Instagram 40% in two years by directing marketing for 90+ annual events drawing 30,000+ attendees.
Booked and managed 4 major acts, including Colin Jost, John Mulaney, Dylan Sprouse, and Quenlin Blackwell, by serving as the org's primary agent liaison.
Designed the full campaign identity for the 40th Art Attack XL, selling 1.3K tickets, while running on-site stage builds and headliner hospitality.

The Petal Project Sept 2023 – Oct 2025

Co-Founder + Senior Advisor

Scaled a 2-person idea into a 32-member organization by founding and running UMD's largest anti-abuse student org.
Reached 2,000+ students a year and secured $2,500+ in grants by building an annual six-week campaign with weekly workshops averaging 200 attendees.
Ran all 18 campaign events with zero reschedules and sub-30-minute setup, while followers grew roughly 200% year over year.

Hack4Impact, UMD Aug 2023 – Mar 2026

Co-Director of Design (promoted Apr 2025)

Shipped two K-12 nonprofit platforms, Y-Knot and All Districts Read, by leading Figma prototyping through weekly client and engineering sprints.
Raised design quality across 16 active projects by mentoring and directing a 30+ person design team.
Extended output past the two flagship platforms by directing sponsorship decks, merch, and event materials across the full club.

Education

University of Maryland

B.A. Immersive Media Design, Honors College

Expected May 2026

Adobe

Product Ambassador

Jul 2023 – May 2025

Skills

Figma · Illustrator · Photoshop · InDesign · Premiere Pro · Canva · Webflow · HTML/CSS · Prompt Engineering · Data Analytics · Event Production · Brand Systems · Content Strategy · UX Research

Additional Experience

Technica – Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Dec 2023–Oct 2024
The Phillips Collection – Digital Marketing Intern, May–Aug 2024
Adobe – Product Ambassador, Jul 2023–May 2025
Warner Music Group – Social Media Designer, May 2021–May 2024
Hirshhorn Museum – ArtLab Collective / Event Design Intern, Apr–Jul 2022
National Building Museum – Design Intern, Aug–Nov 2021
UMD Esports – Graphic Designer, Jul 2023–Jun 2024
Honors College, UMD – President, Design Cultures & Creativity, May 2023–May 2024

Awards

Allstate Foundation National Youth Service Summit: 1 of 65 selected nationwide (2025)
Design Nation, Business Today: 1 of 100 selected nationwide, Princeton University (2025)
DCC Capstone Award: highest student accolade, for The Petal Project (2024)
RESET Scholarship: Iribe Initiative for Inclusion & Diversity in Computing (2024)
Capital One Design Launch Your Career (2024)
Our Voices Summit, Institute for Citizens & Scholars: 1 of 40 selected nationwide (2025)
President's Scholarship, University of Maryland
Gold Crown, Scholastic Press Association: Fine Lines Literary Magazine
UMD Top Ten Freshman
UMD Sophomore Leader of the Year Finalist
University of Maryland Top 3 Senior (Wilson H. Elkins President Award)

GABRIELLE HESTER

gabrihester@gmail.com gabriellehester.com linkedin.com/in/gabriellehester New York City

Education

University of Maryland, College Park, MD Expected May 2026

B.A. Immersive Media Design, Honors College

Adobe, College Park, MD Jul 2023 - May 2025

Product Ambassador

Experience

University Career Center & The President's Promise, University of Maryland Jul 2025 - May 2026

Marketing Designer · College Park, MD

Reach 10,000+ students annually by designing career fair and campus event materials end to end.
Kept every touchpoint on-brand across 3 major career events serving 100+ employers and 2,000+ students, by owning event signage, pamphlets, and brochures from concept to print.

Startup Shell, University of Maryland Sept 2024 - May 2026

Director of Programming · College Park, MD

Raised orientation-to-space retention to 70% (from ~30%) by rebuilding new-member onboarding around a hands-on egg-drop activity.
Rebuilt the club's Instagram voice around real documentation and recaps, growing content reach over 160%, instead of one-off invite graphics.

Digital Infuzion Jun 2025 - Aug 2025

UX Design & Marketing Intern · Washington, DC

Streamlined how reviewers evaluate government RFP responses by designing the UX for an AI-assisted proposal system across 2 interface iterations.
Earned staff trust in AI-generated drafts across 3 major proposal cycles by presenting to a panel of 5 executives.
Kept writers driving proposal strategy by rebuilding the interface from a single flat prompt into guided, Mad-Libs-style inputs across two design iterations.

Amazon Project Kuiper, via App Development Club Sept 2024 - Dec 2024

UX Designer · College Park, MD

Delivered weekly design updates to Amazon leadership over a 4-month engagement by building high-fidelity satellite-anomaly dashboards.
Kept 16 engineers aligned on interface decisions by collaborating through the project's full build cycle.
Built the project's full design system and a 25-slide handoff deck from scratch, after self-teaching the orbital mechanics and signal models the dashboard needed to visualize.

Abercrombie & Fitch (Hollister) Aug 2024

Brand Marketing & Experiential Design Fellow · New Albany, OH

Won a nationwide fellowship, 1 of 50 applicants selected, by pitching a full brand campaign concept.
Presented directly to A&F executive directors by building Hollister's "Denim Darlin'" campaign end to end across 3 pillars: consumer profiles, trend forecasting, omnichannel assets.
Won over executives with a give-back charm bracelet concept, donating 15% of each purchase to Flying Horse Farms, while leading marketing for a 7-person team.

Student Entertainment Events, University of Maryland Nov 2023 - Jan 2025

Marketing Director & Promotion Team Lead · College Park, MD

Grew Instagram 40% in two years by directing marketing for 90+ annual events drawing 30,000+ attendees.
Booked and managed 4 major acts, including Colin Jost, John Mulaney, Dylan Sprouse, and Quenlin Blackwell, by serving as the org's primary agent liaison.
Designed the full campaign identity for the 40th Art Attack XL, selling 1.3K tickets, while running on-site stage builds and headliner hospitality.

The Petal Project Sept 2023 - Oct 2025

Co-Founder + Senior Advisor · College Park, MD

Scaled a 2-person idea into a 32-member organization by founding and running UMD's largest anti-abuse student org.
Reached 2,000+ students a year and secured $2,500+ in grants by building an annual six-week campaign with weekly workshops averaging 200 attendees.
Ran all 18 campaign events with zero reschedules and sub-30-minute setup, while followers grew roughly 200% year over year.

Hack4Impact, University of Maryland Aug 2023 - Mar 2026

Co-Director of Design (promoted Apr 2025) · College Park, MD

Shipped two K-12 nonprofit platforms, Y-Knot and All Districts Read, by leading Figma prototyping through weekly client and engineering sprints.
Raised design quality across 16 active projects by mentoring and directing a 30+ person design team.
Extended output past the two flagship platforms by directing sponsorship decks, merch, and event materials across the full club.

Additional Experience

Technica, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, College Park, MD, Dec 2023 - Oct 2024: led branding, advertising, and accessibility for the world's largest all-women/non-binary hackathon.

The Phillips Collection, Digital Marketing Intern, Washington, DC, May - Aug 2024: ran social strategy and content for a 50,000+ follower audience.

Adobe, Product Ambassador, College Park, MD, Jul 2023 - May 2025: built a campus-wide Creative Cloud marketing plan across 20 clubs.

Warner Music Group, Social Media Designer, Los Angeles, CA, May 2021 - May 2024: designed platform-specific creative for two signed artists.

Hirshhorn Museum, ArtLab Collective / Event Design Intern, Washington, DC, Apr - Jul 2022: designed interactive elements and events for a museum serving 1M+ annual visitors.

National Building Museum, Design Intern, Washington, DC, Aug - Nov 2021: designed and fabricated museum furniture for a hands-on exhibit.

UMD Esports, Graphic Designer, College Park, MD, Jul 2023 - Jun 2024: branded graphics and templates for a Division I Esports team.

Honors College, UMD, President, Design Cultures & Creativity, College Park, MD, May 2023 - May 2024: led a 9-member student council and a 180-student community.

Skills

Awards

Allstate Foundation National Youth Service Summit: 1 of 65 selected nationwide (2025)
Design Nation, Business Today: 1 of 100 selected nationwide, Princeton University (2025)
DCC Capstone Award: highest student accolade, for The Petal Project (2024)
RESET Scholarship: Iribe Initiative for Inclusion & Diversity in Computing (2024)
Capital One Design Launch Your Career (2024)
Our Voices Summit, Institute for Citizens & Scholars: 1 of 40 selected nationwide (2025)
President's Scholarship, University of Maryland
Gold Crown, Scholastic Press Association: Fine Lines Literary Magazine
UMD Top Ten Freshman
UMD Sophomore Leader of the Year Finalist
University of Maryland Top 3 Senior (Wilson H. Elkins President Award)