UNITED KIDS FOUNDATION

STORY OF A FOUNDER
As told directly by the founder, Masha Zolotova — a personal, unfiltered story behind the mission, taken from a recent in-depth conversation.

I was born in the south of Ukraine, in Odesa. I have an art degree, and since I was 19 years old, I’ve been building different kinds of projects and entrepreneurial ventures — literally starting as a student. My goal was always to create a creative community and to build space around it.

Over the years, I’ve created art studios, art centers, art festivals, and big events. In 2016, I opened my own production agency. This is how I built a huge community of mothers and children. Our profile focused on helping kids develop within video and photo industries.

Three years later, I started building the same thing in Los Angeles, California. I moved there to launch a similar production and agency structure in LA.

Seven years later, I had over 600 families in my production community, all focused on helping children gain confidence and try different creative programs — from as early as three to five years old.

But then the war hit. I had to shut everything down in Ukraine and relocate my family.

By what felt like fate — almost mystical circumstances — I came to Vienna just for a weekend and decided to stay. With the support of partners and friends in the U.S. and Europe, I started evacuating people from my home city, Odesa. Together with generous support from people in Austria, the U.S., Germany, the UK, Ukraine, Romania government and Moldova, we managed to relocate about 60 people to Vienna and help them find new homes — mostly mothers with children.

But that was just the beginning of the journey.
Only a few weeks after bringing them to Vienna, I realized a very specific group was suffering the most: teenage girls aged 11–14. They were in the worst emotional state, including my own daughter who didn’t want to leave her room for a month. Another girl didn’t speak at all.

These girls had lost everything — their friends, their city, their identity. And they didn’t speak the language, since we study English, not German, back home. That’s when I knew I had to create urgent programs to emotionally support these girls.

With the help of an amazing family in Austria, I was given a space near MuseumsQuartier for three months. I used it to build my first community. I focused on art creation, because art heals. I built a 10-step art therapy program that guided the girls through abstract art in various forms. Through this, they created a full collection of pieces — full of story, emotion, pain, hope, and a desire for peace.

That same year, we were invited to be part of Miami Art Basel. We prepared a collection of small pieces to showcase. But, due to what I call “higher reasons,” we shifted plans and instead exhibited at the New York Art Expo. We founded a second foundation in Florida and started bringing our art to the U.S., where many pieces sold quickly.

During that first year, I also built a group of Ukrainian families in London — about 40 families. I led workshops there, including at the British Museum. We also held workshops in Mallorca, where we created 70 more pieces for a second Miami exhibition.

Throughout all of this, our core mission stayed the same: art and art therapy. And yet, in the second year, the girls — now the resident artists of my foundation — became like family. They started asking for more workshops: in fashion, photography, videography, ceramics, PR, marketing, and social media. They wanted to explore everything.

They basically inspired the next step: finding female mentors who could pass along their knowledge and inspire the girls.

So I brought in international female mentors who volunteered their time. We held over 60 workshops across multiple fields. Our main residents are now based in Vienna, and we’ve decided to establish our biggest studio here.

In 2025, FACES presented its first event in Vienna,
bringing together leading women across art, fashion, music, film, design, media, and culture.

This moment marked the beginning of a new era for FACES.

Today, FACES expands into 16 creative mentorship programs,
across disciplines including acting, music, event design, experience design, fashion design, styling, writing, photography, film, and more.

What began as an event is now evolving into an annual philanthropic platform, supporting the next generation through long-term mentorship and real creative experience.

With a strong network of mentors already in place,
the next chapter of FACES focuses on scaling impact —
through partnerships, patronage, and community support.

All proceeds and donations support mentorship programs and the development of the foundation.
FACES HOUSE remains the primary supporting partner, alongside contributions from partners and supporters.