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Games for Change Virtual Festival 2021

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Speakers

Drue Kataoka

CEO, Drue Kataoka Studios

Noah Falstein (he/him)

President, The Inspiracy

Shannon Case

Digital Producer, Fred Rogers Productions

Mary E. Pratt (she/her)

Music Educator

David Langendoen

Founder / President, Electric Funstuff

Amelia Winger-Bearskin

Associate Professor of Artificial Intelligence and the Arts, University of Florida

Devon Wyland

UX Design Lead, 12traits

Romina Ruiz-Goiriena

National Correspondent, USA TODAY

idris brewster

Founder / Chief Creative Officer, Movers and Shakers NYC

David Miller (he/him)

Program Director, National Cancer Institute

Veronica Weser

Associate Research Scientist, play4REAL XR Lab

Daniel Kauwila Mahi he/him

PhD Student, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Raul Carvajal (he/him)

Director of Production & XR for Change, Games for Change

Maxime Durand (he/him)

World Design Director, Ubisoft Montreal

Brian Niiya

Content Director, Densho

Raffael Boccamazzo, PsyD (he/him)

Clinical Director, Take This

Tracy Fullerton

Director, USC Game Innovation Lab

Illya Szilak (she/her)

Writer / Director / Producer / Artist, Cloudred

Derek Chan:(he/him)

Producer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Sophie Guindon

Digital Project Manager, Bibliothèque nationale de France

Kelli Dunlap

Psychologist, American University

Cari Warnock

Education Strategist, Dell

Debbie Unger

Library Media Specialist, Jefferson County Public Schools

Evelyn Mora

Founder, Digital Village

Stanley Pierre-Louis

CEO, Entertainment Software Association

Matt Bulka (he/him)

Southeast Regional Consultant, High School Esports League

sofia crespo

Artist, Entangled Others

Justin Woodward

Director / Co-Founder, Media Indie Exchange; BGDF Advisor

Joshua Shen

Strategic Designer, Interactive Media and Games, U.S. Department of State

Rocio Almanza Guillen

Digital Producer, Fred Rogers Productions

Trinidad Hermida | @thisistrini (She/Her)

Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Niantic, Inc.

Jesse Damiani

Senior Writer, Freethink; Director of Simulation Literacies, Nxt Museum

Paige Wood (she|her)

Supervising Producer, Rise-Home Stories Project

Naphtali (He/Him) Faulkner

Director, Origame Digital

Alexandria Heston (She / Her)

UX Designer, Niantic Inc.

Myriam Achard

Chief New Media Partnerships & PR, Centre PHI

Violeta Ayala

Film Futurist, UnitedNotions Film / Prison X

Kamini Tiwari (she/her)

Vice President of Social Impact and Internal Communications, Humble Bundle

Jean Michel JM Blottiere - Games for Change Europe

Co-President, Games for Change Europe

Cody Mejeur (They/Them, She/Her)

Visiting Assistant Professor of Game Studies, University at Buffalo, SUNY

Kelly White (she/her)

VP, Digital Product Strategy & Partnerships, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products

Walter Greenleaf

Visiting Scholar, Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Stanford University

Imre Jele

Chief Creative Officer, The Dairymen / Bossa Studios

Sam Rodriguez, MD (he/him)

Physician, Stanford University

Dylan Urquidi

Researcher / Engineer / Designer / Artist, Unity Technologies

Sithe Ncube (she/her)

Advisor, Black Game Developer Fund

Shiva Kannan (he/him)

Programmer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Yuzhu Zhou(she/her)

Artist / Game Designer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Juan Pablo Urgilés

Creative Director, Imán Transmedia

Sandro Olivieri (he/him)

Executive Director, Project FoundED

Lindsay Grace (he/him)

Knight Chair in Interactive Media, University of Miami; Vice President, Higher Education Video Game Alliance

Jenny Wu (she/her/hers)

Chief Product Officer, Understood

Glenn Cantave

CEO, Movers and Shakers NYC

Santo Aveiro

Game Designer, Brujería @ Werk

Kat Schrier

Director of Games / Associate Professor, Marist College

Holly Pope

NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Immersed Games

Ellysse Dick (she/her)

Policy Analyst, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

Johnathan Sherrill

Student

Adam Dube (he/him)

Associate Professor, Director of the Learning Sciences Program, McGill University

Aaron Gani

Founder / CEO, BehaVR, Inc.

Outi Laiti (She/Her)

Associate Researcher, University of Helsinki, Indigenous studies

Jeanette Bushnell

Co-Founder, The N.D.N. Players Research Group

Sam Glassenberg

Founder / CEO, Level Ex

Kendall Latham

Senior K-12 Education Strategist, Dell

Jimmy Vainstein

Senior Program Manager, The World Bank

Gilson Schwartz

Director, Games for Change Latin America

Jason Horne

Managing Director, GSV Ventures

Cynthia Emami

Research Assistant, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos Business School

Eugene Ohu

Senior Lecturer, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos Business School

Jayda Murray (she/her)

Student

Son M.

Co-Founder / Studio Director, Perfect Garbage

Geneva Heyward

Gameplay Programmer, Glow Up Games

Rick Fox

Chief Business Development Officer, HiDef, Inc.

Ekaterina Malievskaia (she/her)

Co-Founder / Chief Innovation Officer, COMPASS Pathways

Afeez Bello (He/Him)

Senior Software Engineer / Tech Lead; Mojang Studios / Microsoft

Amber Taylor

CEO, ARA Journeys

James Vaughan

Founder, Ndemic Creations

Archie Stonehill (He/him)

Investor, Makers Fund

Florent Maurin

President, The Pixel Hunt

Nika Nour

Executive Director, IGDA Foundation

Katie Salen Tekinbaş (she/her)

Professor, UC Irvine

Phoebe Watson (she/her)

Game Designer

E. O. Adeola Babatunde

Research Associate, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos Business School

Morenike Alugo

Research Assistant, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos Business School

Attila Szantner

Co-Founder / CEO, MMOS

Joan O'Hara

Senior Director of Public Policy, XR Association

Margaret Wallace (she/her)

Game Industry Executive

Oleksii Netrebenko

Developer, Brinemedia

Allen Turner (he/him/his)

Senior Professional Lecturer, DePaul University

Mark Barlet

Founder / Executive Director, The AbleGamers Charity

Martina Welkhoff (she/hers)

Managing Partner, WXR Fund

Eleanore Falck

3D Environment Art Student, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Jon Roozenbeek

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge

Paisley Smith (She/They)

Unity for Humanity Program Lead, Unity Technologies

Grace Collins

CEO, Snowbright Studio

Kellee Santiago (she/they)

Head of External Publishing, Niantic, Inc.

Kate Gigliotti-Gordon (she/her)

Stay-at-Home Mom

Michelle Chen

Senior Producer, Kids' Media & Education, The WNET Group

Jamil Moledina

CEO, Hexagram

Conor Russomanno

Founder / CEO, OpenBCI

Estella Tse (she/her)

XR Creative Director

Vicky & Jon Redstart Interactive

Director, Redstart Interactive

Leah Hoyer (she/her)

VP, Creative, Wizards of the Coast

John Polson (he/him)

Portfolio Director, Publishing, Humble Bundle

Lien Tran (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor, DePaul University, College of Computing & Digital Media

Jessica Murrey (she/her)

Co-Founder / CEO, W!CKED SAiNTS Studio

Michael DeAnda (he/him; she/her)

Professional Lecturer, DePaul University

Luis Renato Olivalves

Head of Gaming Creators, Facebook

Rhonda Moore (she, her, hers)

Program Officer Global Health, NIH

Elan Schneider (He / Him)

Co-Founder / CEO, TrainPain

Brian Schwab (he/him)

Interaction Design Director, LEGO Creative Play Lab

Alton Glass

CEO / Director, GRX Immersive Labs

Maureen Berho (she/they)

Producer / CEO, Niebla Games

David Liu (He/Him)

Head of Studios, BetterUp

John Spinale

Managing Director, JAZZ Venture Partners

Elaine Gómez

Co-Founder, Latinx in Gaming; Game Designer, Brass Lion Entertainment

Bob Cunningham (he/him)

Understood

Katherine Wheeler (she/her)

Narrative Designer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Maize Longboat

Producer / Writer / Game Designer

Matt Omernick (he/him)

Chief Creative Officer, Akili Interactive

Lindsey Tropf

Founder / CEO, Immersed Games

Drew Moger (he/him)

Graduate Assistant, American University Game Center

Nyambura Waruingi

Founder / Creative Director, Akoia & Company Ltd

Georgii (he/him) Kurgan

Marketing Manager, Luden.io

🎮 Miranda Due

Associate Producer, Treyarch

El Lim (he/him)

Founder / Head Developer, Khayalan Arts

Quill (they/them) Kolat

Creative Manager, Snowbright Studio

Sabrina Culyba (she/her)

Owner & Game Designer, Ludoliminal

Kim Chouard

Global Education Senior Manager, Salesforce

Natasha Miller(she/her)

Senior Research Scientist, Fair Play Alliance / Blizzard Entertainment

Kishonna (she/her) Gray

Professor, University of Illinois - Chicago

Andrew Phelps (he/him)

Professor, University of Canterbury / American University

Rami Ismail

Industry Ambassador

Kahentawaks Tiewishaw (she/her)

Skins Workshop Associate Director, The Initiative for Indigenous Futures / Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace

Glenn Gillis (he/him)

CEO, Sea Monster

Lisa Osborne

Director of Emerging Media, Black Public Media

Ebby Wahman (she/her)

Senior Software Engineer, Niantic Labs

Steve Isaacs (he/him)

Education Program Manager, Epic Games

Nuha Alkadi

Narrative Designer, Ubisoft Toronto

Elizabeth Adams

Chief AI Ethics Advisor, EMA Advisory Services

Wendi Sierra (she/her)

Assistant Professor, Texas Christian University

Monica (he/she mix it up) Arrambide

CEO, Maven Youth

Jocelyn Wagner (they/them)

Graduate Assistant, American University

Alessadro Biollo

Business Development, Ludus Games

Anthony Castoro

CEO, HiDef, Inc.

Kathryn Yu (she/her)

Executive Editor, No Proscenium

Nanea Reeves

CEO, TRIPP, Inc.

Alanah Pearce (she/her/any)

Writer, Santa Monica Studio

Silver Spook

Game Developer, Silver Spook Games

Judith Okonkwo

Founder, Imisi 3D

Noel Ullom

Student

Marzuq Mazid

Student

Malek Teffaha

Head of Communications and Localization, MENA / Ubisoft

Shel Mann

CEO, FireflyVR

Jim Huntley

Professor / Head of Marketing, University of Southern California

John Cook

Research Fellow, Monash University

Phil Stuart (he / him)

Founder / Creative Director, Preloaded

Gita Barry (she/her)

EVP and General Manager, Real System, Penumbra

Toks Bakare

Principal Consultant and Behaviour Analyst, asktoks.com

Jose Luis Vazquez-Poletti (he/him)

Associate Professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Jenn Panattoni

Head of Social Good, Xbox

Kahlief Adams

Owner / Host, Spawn on Me, LLC

Laura Higgins

Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility; Roblox

Tyler Golson (he/him)

Senior Tech Advisor, Novetta

Jerome Waldispuhl

Associate Professor, McGill University

DeLonn Crosby

CEO, SayKid

Valeria Colombo (She/Her)

Head of Engineering, Etermax ; Board Member, Women in Games Argentina

David Ball (he/him)

Director, SecondMuse

Estelle Tigani (she/her)

Cinematics Producer, Santa Monica Studio

Susan Rivers (she/her)

Executive Director & Chief Scientist, iThrive Games

Diane Hickey

Program Director, National Science Foundation

Val Vacante

Director of Strategy - Experience and Innovation, LiveArea

Mia Consalvo (she/her)

Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design, Concordia University

Vicky Wei

Director, Redstart Interactive

Adam Elsesser

President / CEO / Chairman, Penumbra

John Wie

Content & Marketing Manager, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences

Ellis Bartholomeus

Play Alchemist, Ellis in Wonderland

Gregg Katano (He/Him)

SVP of U.S. Operations / Partner, HOLOGATE

Michaela Ternasky-Holland (she/her)

Creative Strategist & Consultant, CRUX / Freelance

Margarita Belorukova

Business Development, Luden.io

Kate Edwards (she/her)

CEO / Executive Director, Geogrify / Global Game Jam

Kari Kēhau Noe

Graduate Research Assistant, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa

Dale Linegar (he/him)

Director, Games for Change Asia-Pacific

Judith Brisson (She/Her)

History Teacher, Collège Jean de la Mennais

Amanda Sweaton (she/her)

MegaGrants Manager, Epic Games

Louis Weinstock

CEO, Apart of Me

Alex McDowell

Creative Director, Experimental Design

Julie Lottering

Director of Education, Unreal Engine, Epic Games

Brittan Heller

Counsel, Foley Hoag LLP

Charles Nduka

Chief Scientific Advisor, Emteq Labs

Laylah Bulman

Business Program Manager, Microsoft, Minecraft: Education Edition

Alan Gershenfeld

Co-Founder / President, E-Line Media

Sarah Makdad

Community Developer, Focus Home Interactive

Nse Ufot

CEO, The New Georgia Project

Erik Leitner (he/him)

Chief Strategist, Florida Scholastic Esports League

Jeremy Bailenson

Thomas More Storke Professor of Communication, Stanford University

Chunan Huang

Programmer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Jack McClain (he/him)

Game Designer, Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

Erika Siegel

Research Scientist, HP Inc.

Erin Hawley

Digital Content Producer, Easterseals / The Geeky Gimp

Jayda Washington-Boothe

Student

Ariel Garten

Founder, Muse

Brendon Hale

Senior Principal Research Scientist, OptumLabs

Aaron Wisniewski

Founder / CEO, OVR Technology

Katherine Moran

Associate Professor, Saint Louis University

Rob Knight

Professor, University of California San Diego

Andres Waisberg

Director, Virtual 360

Erinn Budd

Impact Producer, Crux

Noelle Mazurek (she/her)

Production Coordinator, Games for Change

Sounak Ghosh (he/him)

3D Designer and Developer, New York University

Ian Southwell

Creative Director, Cleverlike Studios, Inc.

Dave Culyba (he/him)

Assistant Teaching Assistant Teaching Professor, Carnegie Mellon UniversityProfessor, Carnegie Mellon University

Matthew Farber

Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado

Meriem Gray

Communications Lead, The World Bank

Lindsay Hoover

Co-Founder, ImmersiveWorlds LLC

Joanna Liu (she/they)

CEO, Cartographr Technologies Inc

Stefania Maggi (she/her)

Associate Professor, Carleton University

Pearly Chen

Vice President, HTC

Georgios Yannakakis

Director / Professor / Co-Founder, Institute of Digital Games / University of Malta / Modl.ai

John Hanke

Founder / CEO, Niantic, Inc.

Nichol Bradford

Co-Founder / Executive Director , Transformative Technology Org.

Charles Theuma

Principal, Saint Martin's Institute of Higher Education

Eduard Medina (He/Him)

3D Artist, Manticore Games

Güven Çatak

Academic-Director, Bahçeşehir University Game Lab

Samir Ghosh

Assistant Director, Ahmanson Lab at USC

Lucy Hoffman (she/her)

Co-Founder / COO, Carry1st

Fei Wang

Project & Design Lead, Musitation

Laila Shabir

Founder / CEO, Girls Make Games

Felix Kramer

Producer, The Game Band

Stephanie Dinkins

Artist

John ( he/him ) Keefe

Co-Founder, Draw & Code

Allan Cudicio

Game Designer/Founder at TwinDrums

Ricardo Kayanan

Department Director, Game Design & Development, University of Silicon Valley

Malcolm Barnes

Director, Hollywood Gaming

Chris Rush

Sr. Advisor for Innovation / Director of Education Technology, US Department of Education

Jeremy Dela Rosa

Founder / CEO, Leyline

Josh Boykin

Founder / Editor-in-Chief, Intelligame

Jill King (she/her)

Senior Vice President, Marketing and Partnerships, WarnerMedia

Brenden Gibbons

Game & Narrative Designer, Studio Fizbin / Massive Miniteam

Stephen Reid

Customer Engagement PM, Microsoft

Libby Falck

CEO, Forward Labs

Nicole Cassier-Mason

CEO at Lemonade Day

David P. Chiu (he/him)

Director of Creator Marketing, Manticore Games

DeAngelo Murillo

The Geek Lyfe

The event is over

Hosted by

Games for Change

Founded in 2004, Games for Change is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers game creators and social innovators to drive real-world impact through games and immersive media.

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Booths

Unreal Engine

Preparing Students for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Apart of Me

Guiding Young People From Grief To Compassion

Beyond Blue

A narrative adventure into our planet's beating blue heart.

We Are The Caretakers

Defend your planet & animals from sci-fi poachers in this strategy RPG

iCivics

Free, digital games to engage students in meaningful civic learning

Legends of Learning

Explore our library of math, science, and career training games!

Supernatural

Real Coaches. Stunning Destinations. Finally, a Workout You'll Love

NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment

Top Ten City for Game Developers

Disinfo Cloud

A counter-disinfo hub supported by the US DOS Global Engagement Center

Ubisoft

Enrich players' life by creating memorable gaming experiences

XR Association

Promoting the responsible development & adoption of VR, AR & MR.

Evil Geniuses

Live Evil Think Free

GamingMalta Foundation

Home of Gaming Excellence

Core Games

Your Portal to the Multiverse — Create, Publish, and Earn

Games for Change Latin America

The Latin America Chapter of Games for Change

Games for Change Europe

The Europe Chapter of Games for Change

Games for Change Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific chapter of Games for Change

Games for Change Africa

The Africa chapter of Games for Change

Grand Story

The winning SGDP game from developers in Ukraine. You are an elderly woman living in a rural area. Apart from doing your daily routine, you are also waiting for a letter from a grandson.Will your grandson write a letter?

Paving the Way

Cross-Cultural Impact Jam Grand Prize Winner. See through the eyes of a visually impaired person by helping them navigate through town using tactile paving.

Automated Days

Cross-Cultural Impact Jam Most Creative Award. Play as a warehouse worker in an industry that only seeks to become more efficient, despite human well-being.

Mask

Cross-Cultural Impact Jam Making an Impact Award Winner. A game about masking, as well as the risks and rewards of revealing yourself to others.

Piggy

Cross-Cultural Impact Jam Best Visual Design Winner. - In this horror-themed platformer game, you are a pig trying to escape a slaughterhouse.

XR Brain Jam

A meeting of the minds between researchers and XR creators...

A Fold Apart

MOST INNOVATIVE: A puzzle game about a long-distance relationship in a world of folding paper.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPACT: Even the smallest person can make a big difference.

Before I Forget

MOST INNOVATIVE: A narrative exploration of a woman living with dementia: love, loss and a life well-lived.

CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience

BEST GAMEPLAY: An emotional homeless survival experience within a randomly generated city with rogue-like elements.

Harmony Square

BEST LEARNING GAME, MOST SIGNIFICANT IMPACT: Master the dark arts of disinformation by laying siege to a peaceful, democracy-obsessed neighborhood.