Hey, everyone. Uh Thank you for coming to this talk. Um I'm really excited to be here on behalf of Gamed of HQ. And I'm gonna be talking today about how we're breaking barriers and building inclusion in game development.Um So I'm gonna start with a little bit about who we are a little bit about my background. Um And then what we're doing as a company um to increase inclusivity in game development. So Gamed HQ offers the professional unity developers program. This is a workforce development program um that's designed to get our students employed as software engineers within 12 months of the starts and often in as little as 100 and 20 days. What sets us apart from other similar training programs that are out there is in the way that we measure success, our software engineers uh do not graduate until they achieve paid employment in the industry. So before I get into what we're, what we're doing as a company, as I mentioned, to build inclusion into game development, I'd like to share a little bit about how I entered the tech field. So I think it's, it, it's relevant. Um So when I was around nine or 10. Um, my dad came home from work with this new gadget that he set up in the basement. Um, he set it all up, there was wires everywhere. Um, some of you who are, are watching this may recognize this.

It was a handy computer. Um, and it absolutely had all of my attention. Um, I sat down in front of this computer hooked up to a little TV monitor on this, this keyboard with a book in front of me. And I spent days and hours coding my very first video game. Um And I was so excited to see what would happen. And the outcome was this, this was my first space shooter. I spent a few hours playing it. And back then when this Tandy came out, there was no way to save this. So I had spent all this time building this game, played it and then it was, once we turned off the computer, it was gone and I got a little bored with it. So, uh dad came home with another thing to add on. That was one of these cassette recorders and you plug this into the Tandy. And then you could play like really exciting games like this one here. This was my favorite game and I spent hours playing this. What this did. Um Is it opened a new horizon for me? I was completely hooked on the computer edge. Um, after this and you know, o over the years I explored gaming on consoles on PC, on mobile and I had an interest in everything related to computers. I found that I was able to learn new programs easily and just kind of immersed myself in that. And yet I was always a little frustrated as a gamer girl. Uh What I felt was a lack of acknowledgment by game creators.

Now, if, if games included female characters, it seemed like it was an afterthought and, or they had weaknesses that the male characters didn't have. I mean, I remember even racing games feeling like just offered very little in customization that appealed to my feminine tastes.

One of the things that, you know, as much as I was interested in the whole computer age, I never considered it a career in tech or computer science or game game development. Um It wasn't even on my radar as something that was a pathway available to me. Uh I lived in a rural community and I was female and it just, it didn't seem like it was it it an option. Um So the position I'm in today as coo of a company that creates game developers. Yeah, that wasn't intentional. Um It definitely wasn't the expected destination. So how did I get here? Um So I started my career in um corporate and government as an in administration. Um I left my job in 2008 because I needed more flexibility and the ability to attend uh therapy appointments for my son who had developmental delays. My government job just didn't allow that flexibility. Um I spent the first two years in my business learning programs, investing all of my earnings back into more training. And I learned that I really had an affinity for technical B A work. Um I could learn new systems and programs easily and help my clients with, with those I became keep certified. Um In 2011, I became an online business manager um which I shifted my priorities and my focus from technical va type of work to systems operations and team management.

I've spent the, I spent the last 12 years in, in those roles with various companies. Um And then in mid 20 tw 22 I took the E Os Integrator master class and I joined Gamed of HQ as an operation specialist. Today, my role with King of HQ is coo that I accepted on January 1st. You know, has me all of the, the, the regular type of stuff. I'm overseeing the design of business strategies, the plans, our procedures, setting our goals for performance and growth, establishing the policies that promote our company, culture and vision that is held by our, our CEO Jonathan. Um I and basically at, at the core, I oversee daily operations of the company and our team, but I also have a mandate that is personal and important to me. Um And that is to increase the diversity across our company um and our student body. So when I joined Gamed of HQ, I looked around and I realized that there was an imbalance of, there wasn't a lot of diversity on our team or in our student body in particular, there were not a lot of women students at the time. And what I realized is that imbalance that lack of diversity, it wasn't purposeful, it, it wasn't something that was intended. Um And in fact, what I've discovered as I leaned into this is that building inclusive communities requires intentionality in creating those opportunities.

And that's really where my mandate comes from. You know, so this, this became evident early on for me while listening to a conversation in, in our sales and marketing department. Um In the first meeting I attended, um I was listening in as an observer to a conversation between our Facebook ads, uh agency and our sales team at the time. And what I heard was a problem in the culture that needed to be addressed. So they were talking about changes to our Facebook ads and whom to target to. And it was suggested by someone in the room that women were to be excluded. Um All the men in the room and it was all men except for me, um immediately agreed and some remarks about the fit of women to this program were made that frankly I found offensive. Um There was no purposefulness here to explore how to appeal to diverse populations like women uh due to the unconscious biases that was held by this very non diverse group of decision makers. And that's when my mandate was born. I wanted to change the face of our team and our student body and align it with our company vision, our ceo Jonathan Weinberger was completely on board and he has enthusiastically supported this effort at every step.

And it's really what's brought us here to this today, to this conference. So I wanna talk a little bit about why diversity matters in the game dev industry. Um Specifically, you know, it, it's in the tech industry, but specifically, I wanna talk about game development. So when we're thinking through this, one of, one of the important things that I like I just touched on is in representing diverse audiences. So in the example of my own team where in a meeting where we just arbitrarily had excluded all women from ad spend due to unconscious bias. Um I, I was sat there asking myself, how are they able, how do they, how are they equipped to speak to women and other underrepresented groups when they have no awareness or of the perspective that those groups bring? Uh you know, quite honestly, we're putting it a little bit more plainly, how did some of these white bros appeal to women or people of color or the LGLGT BT Q community? The answer is they don't. Another great example of being able to represent diverse audiences. Um in the game industry is the game life is strange. It features a diverse cast of characters, including a biracial protagonist, a lesbian love interest and a character with a disability.

Um The game also tackles difficult issues such as bullying, mental health and suicide prevention, which resonate with a wide range of players. The development team included people of different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives which helped create a game that was authentic and representative representative of diverse audiences.

Another reason why diversity matters in the game deve development industry is in bringing unique perspectives and ideas to the table. So a diverse team brings unique perspectives and ideas that can enhance the gameplay experience, different cultures, experiences and backgrounds could lead to a creative solutions and approaches to game design that may not have been considered otherwise one of the best examples of this that I can think of right now.

Uh And that's relative into me as well as the game, the last of us part two. So it featured a really diverse development team that included women and LGBT Q plus individuals resulting in a game that it explores themes of identity, grief and revenge uh from a different perspective and it it really does challenge traditional gaming narratives. Another reason why diversity matters in the game industry is in supporting social justice. So the game dev has been criticized for its lack of diversity representation and it's not really well known for supporting social justice causes. Um So, by promoting diversity in game development, um it can support social justice by bringing more voices and perspectives to the forefront of the industry. A game that uh I think exemplifies this quite well. Is the game Beyond Blue. So this game was developed by a team that included marine biologists, environmentalists and activists with the intention of raising awareness about ocean conservation and the impacts of climate change. Um The game's diverse team helped to create a game that was both formative and impactful uh promoting social justice and environmental activism in a unique way.

You know what, you know, that a way that people want to learn more, an exciting new uh perspective, I think probably the most well known and maybe the most important to me, reason why diversity matters in the game dev industry is in avoiding stereotypes and bias. So w without diverse representation, game developers can unconsciously perpetuate stereotypes and bias in their games. How many of us have if you play video games of any kind um have rolled your eyes at the buxom blonde in an impossibly scarce armor while the male avatars had full body heavy armor and arguably better options. I'm not suggesting that running around in a zombie apocalypse in a bikini is necessarily wrong if that's what you want to do. I think, I think gaming is such a great place because we can do that if we choose to. But I think we can all agree that all of us, every one of us would like to have some options and that's not always been available for women. One of the games that I think that does this. Well, there's, there's multiple games in this series is Assassin's Creed in specifically Assassin's Creed origins. It included historians, cultural consultants, language experts from Egypt and which resulted in a more authentic and culturally sensitive representation of ancient Egypt in the game.

It's, it's not somebody's um misunderstanding of the actual culture. So now that I've talked about what I think the problems are. Uh there we, I have, I have a whole list of them. I just keyed in on a few of the ones that I think are the most important. Um Here's how game of HQ is doing their part to tackle these. Um I'm just watching the chat here and you're right, Jennifer exac exactly. There are so many games that are so much fun but watching only scantily clad women running around. If you don't have an option, it's frustrating. Uh being able to have those options in games, that's a step forward and that's long overdue. So I, I, one of the things that I I'm dedicated to here at Game of HQ is being able to encourage and support women and underrepresented groups to pursue careers in technology. So this can be done by providing mentorship and networking opportunities, offering resources and training programs like ours uh to help women develop the skills, they need to suc success to succeed in this industry. Um The way that Game Dev HQ is working towards this, our initiative, we launched a $6000 scholarship for women in tech to qualify, who qualify for a professional beauty developers program. Um So this helps lower the barrier of access to entry.

And um you know, en encourages more women to join the program also for the month of March. In recognition of International Women's Day, we set aside $250 from every new student that joined our program to donate to a charitable organization that supports and fosters women in tech.

Another way that uh we can support women in tech is through promoting diversity or to, sorry, let me say that again to promote diversity inclusivity in the workplace. Um This supports women in the game industry. We have to be again purposeful about this uh through implementing policies and practices that promote diversity inclusivity, things like flexible work opportunities, uh employee resource groups for underrepresented groups and just encouraging open and honest communication. So inside of game W HQ, our initiatives are an unlimited pay time off policy with flexible working powers. We are a, we are across the United States and Canada, right from Honolulu to um to Oklahoma. So we have people working in all time zones. There are no actual set hours in the office. Um We've also made some significant changes inside of our company um in the, in the last 12 months. So when I joined the team in mid 2022 I was the first female employee. Um Now a year later, we have a 5050 mix of men to women on our team. Um So in hiring and appointing me as the first leadership team member and now the second in command of the company, our founder, Jonathan Weinberger, he really demonstrated his, his dedication to building an equitable culture here at Game to HQ.

I think one of the easier things to that seems quite obvious is being able to engage with women in this industry. So seeking out and engaging uh whether through networking events, conferences, um and other industry events. So Game of HQ, how we support this. Um So my mission in 2023 as I've mentioned is to, you know, increasing inclusivity and that is partly through building relationships um developing a network with organizations and individuals um that support women in technology, women in games. So attending uh events like this one is high on our list. I've also become a women and games ambassador and I'm expanding my network specifically to people and organizations that support women and underrepresented groups in our industry. We've also launched a unity women's Discord server um that works alongside of the other community um and social media that we have. This is a safe place just for women who work inside of unity. I think one of the most uh fun parts of what we're doing and how I think everyone can do. Their part is through celebrating women's achievements, highlighting and celebrating the achievements of women in the gaming industry, the tech industry um that helps to inspire and encourage other women to pursue careers in this field.

Um So game of HQ, the way that we're doing this is we are developing case studies, success stories, um marketing messages that feature elevate and celebrate our female and female identifying students and their successes. Um So I've got a video here that highlights a few of our um female students. Please let me know if here.

Yeah, I was able to expand my network and actually get a new position as space rats. They were able to um bring me back on as their 3d artist.

Something that John always tells you to do to share your progress either through articles. In that case you to be doing that allow me to share my company in social media and that we follow us able to do some work

after I joined. It was I think uh a month and I started to uh to, to, to do the the training, I managed to create a prototype and then I pitch it and it was

accepted finding programs like this and especially having the guidance of coaches really does help and gives you more opportunity you are

learning and you know, get a sore engineer program, but you have access to this library and you think you're not being held back because they give you what we

learn. There is just to uh solve problems, to read manuals, to just dig for the solution. So it is also you are supported by the community, but also you learn to support yourself

in other ways that we, that we're elevating women. Um You know, so we invite everyone to have and we feature them in these videos. Uh We excitedly share the wins in social media um as they experience them. Um I think this is one of the most fun parts of what I'm doing and I, I get excited every time we get to celebrate um a win from one of our, our students, this, this person here, Frankie Brown, she had one of the fastest paths to success in her program and it was, it was so rewarding to see her resilience and hard work pay off.

So that's all I have. Um you know, these are some of the ways that game drive HQ is breaking barriers and building inclusion in game development. Um We have more work to do. There's a lot more to this conversation. Um Building diverse teams and communities is something that will take time and commitment. Um Like I said, the, the conclusion that I've come to is that it requires purposeful action. So, um if you'd like to stop by our booth. Um, I'll be happy to, you know, talk further about this or, you know, share a little bit more about what the end of HQ has planned. Um That's, that's our link there on the screen. Um And as well, you can find us in the Silver Exhibitors Hall. So happy to answer any questions anyone has. Uh Fantastic, Isabel. I'm so glad. Iii I was, I was hoping that um we would have some people in the audience that would see a couple of these games that perhaps they've worked on. So we do have five minutes left if anybody wants to, you know, uh has any questions or, you know, more feedback.