Corinne Nakamura-Rybak has spent 25 years asking a simple question: How do people actually come to understand something?
Not only receive information—but genuinely shift in how they see an idea, a community, a piece of science, or their own place in the world.

That question has shaped everything she has built — public health campaigns designed to reach communities left out of the conversation, NASA educational experiences that make climate science feel urgent and real, immersive narrative environments for the U.S. Forest Service, and health equity storytelling co-created with communities for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For 13 years she served as Executive Vice President at Metropolitan Group, a global social impact consultancy, leading audience engagement and experience design initiatives for organizations including NASA, Ford Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Folger Shakespeare Library.

Before that, two decades in independent creative practice — directing experiential installations, broadcast title design, and branded environments for adidas, W Hotels, Banana Republic, and Imaginary Forces, and co-facilitating immersive international workshops with the design collective Tomato across Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kassel.

She is based in Portland, Oregon, and is available for executive roles, select consulting engagements, and creative partnerships.

Experience Design

Designing immersive, participatory experiences that move people from passive observers to active participants; across physical environments, digital platforms, and public programs.

clients: US Forest Service, Folger Shakespeare Library

Skills and capabilities

Cultural Strategy

Connecting institutions with the audiences, communities, and cultural contexts that make their work matter; grounded in research, co-creation, and deep audience understanding.

clients: Oregon Health Authority, WK Kellogg Foundation

Narrative Strategy

Translating complex, often invisible issues; structural racism, climate science, public health equity, into stories that are clear, emotionally resonant, and built to last.

clients; NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Public Engagement

Designing campaigns, programs, and initiatives that invite real participation; not just awareness, but connection, ownership, and action.

clients: Oregon Department of Human Services

Participatory Learning

Creating learning environments where people don't just consume content but build understanding through experience, dialogue, and creative exploration.

clients: Naropa University, Portland Art Museum, Tomato Workshops

Multidisciplinary Creative Leadership

Leading teams of designers, writers, strategists, filmmakers, architects, and community partners toward a shared creative vision; across sectors, scales, and timelines.

clients: CAL FIRE, Nike, First Nations

Corinne Nakamura-Rybak has spent 25 years asking a simple question: How do people actually come to understand something? Not only receive information—but genuinely shift in how they see an idea, a community, a piece of science, or their own place in the world.