As Director of Community Engagement at Nine PBS, Vin Ko leads efforts to build meaningful relationships and foster collaboration across the St. Louis region. In this role he sets the strategic direction for community partnerships and engagement initiatives that reflect Nine PBS’s mission to engage, inform, and inspire the community. Vin focuses on strengthening partnerships with local organizations, businesses, and civic leaders while ensuring that community voices shape the station’s priorities and impact.
Vin brings more than a decade of experience in community development, partnership building, and strategic leadership. Before joining Nine PBS, he served as Director of Team Operations for St. Louis CITY Soccer Club, where he helped lead the city’s successful bid for a Major League Soccer franchise and guided the operational and community strategy that shaped the club’s early success.
Previously, at the World Trade Center – St. Louis under the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Vin managed programs for the St. Louis Mosaic Project, promoting key regional initiatives that supported immigrant entrepreneurs, international student retention, and professional development programs. His leadership helped advance St. Louis’s reputation as one of the nation’s most welcoming and inclusive regions for foreign-born residents. Earlier in his career, he worked in development at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School.
Beyond his professional work, Vin is deeply engaged in civic and cultural life. He founded St. Louis Pick Up Soccer, a community organization that has grown to include more than 6,000 local players, and continues to use sports as a way to build connection and belonging. His commitment to community extends through extensive board service, including roles with the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis Civic Pride Foundation, Ladue Education Foundation, Asian American Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis, Explore St. Louis Multicultural Committee, and the St. Louis Roadies Advisory Board.
A native of St. Louis, Vin is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He was recognized by the St. Louis Business Journal with its prestigious 30 Under 30 Award for his professional achievement and community leadership.