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Dev, Play, Go! Founder, GGJ Board Member, Regional and Site Organizer, IGDA MENA & Southwest Asia Regional Coordinator, Women in Games Ambassador, Savvy Games Group as Talent Development Lead

Alexis Biro is an IGDA Localization SIG member and an IGDA Localization Mentor. He acts as Business Development Manager for Terra Localizations. Alexis has been working in the video game and localization industry since 2018 when he began as a Localization Advisor, and later Localization Producer for the Indie Devs, Astral Clocktower Studios. He has given many talks and workshops about video game localization, LQA, and market research at different conferences, such as devcom and gamescom LATAM EVA in Argentina and online for the IGB. He has also hosted and produced two seasons of the Open World podcast, which was featured on Multilingual TV

Nessa Cannon is a game writer and narrative designer who has worked on over a dozen commercial projects, with credits on games such as Borderlands 4, Endoparasitic, Date Everything, Star Trucker, and several unannounced titles. She was previously part of IGDA's Next Gen Leader and Academy of Interactive Arts and Science's Amplifying New Voices cohorts, and spoke at GDC on the topic of efficient branching narratives. She is also an avid video essay watcher.

Mei is a UX designer and member of the IGDA Games User Research SIG steering committee. She has worked on user experience and research for 6 years. She previously spoke at GDC 2024 on prototyping games in Figma with variables, and she hosted the 2025 Games User Research Roundtable. She has volunteered with IGDA since 2019.

Michelle Clough is a game writer, editor, narrative designer, and professional fangirl with over ten years of experience in the game industry, from AAA games to small indie projects. Her game writing and editing credits include Destiny 2, Destruction All-Stars, Purrfect Date, EverReach, and Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum. Her particular interest and expertise is in depicting and designing compelling romances, sexual relationships, and attractive characters, and she regularly gives highly-acclaimed lectures and panels about romance, sex, and diverse sex appeal, as well as writing Passion and Play: A Guide to Designing Sexual Content in Games. She is co-founder and chair of the IGDA Romance and Sexuality Special Interest Group, as well as its independent spin-off community FERIM (Forum for Erotic and Romantic Interactive Media).

Alexa Ray Corriea is a writer and narrative designer with a decade of experience writing across various media. She has experience across many video game genres -- including role-playing, first-person shooter, third-person action-adventure, multiplayer and live services -- and with major IP, including Marvel and Call of Duty. Her credits in games include AZTECH: FORGOTTEN GODS (2022), single-player and multiplayer stories for CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD and the CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE PACIFIC (2021) live service game, indie darling BUGSNAX (2020), and critically-acclaimed The Lord of the Rings based MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR (2017). She has also published a book about Kingdom Hearts under the Boss Fight Books publishing label. Alexa is a seasoned speaker, giving talks at many conferences including the Game Developers Conference, DICE, PAX, and more, and was the host for the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards. She mentoring within the games industry through the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and The Game Awards Future Class program, and is also a host of the AIAS Game Maker's Notebook Podcast and a member of IGDA and BAFTA.

Jason Della Rocca is a game business consultant, investor, funding advisor, and ecosystem strategist. He currently spends the bulk of his time advising game studio founders on funding and product strategy, and advising governments around the world how to better grow/support the success of their regional game development ecosystem. As the co-founder of Execution Labs, he was a hands-on early stage investor to 25 independent game studios from North America and Europe. In parallel Jason helped launch GamePlay Space, a non-profit hub to support indies and guide them toward business success, whose alumni have generated over $300m in game sales and funding. Between 2000-09 he served as the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and was honored for his industry building efforts with the inaugural Ambassador Award at the Game Developers Conference. In 2009, Jason was named to Game Developer Magazine's Power50, a list which profiles 50 of the most important contributors to the state of the game industry. As a sought after expert on the game industry, Jason has lectured at conferences and universities worldwide.

Kate Edwards is an award-winning 32+ year veteran of the game industry, and the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy which innovated content culturalization in games, as well as the CXO and Co-Founder of SetJetters, a screen tourism app. She is also the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and of the Global Game Jam. In addition to serving in several board and advisory roles, she is a geographer, writer, and corporate strategist. In 2021, she was included in the Forbes 50 Over 50 Vision List and was also inducted into the Women in Games Hall of Fame.

Paula Angela Escuadra (She/Her) is the founder and co-chair of the International Game Developers Association Climate Special Interest Group (IGDA Climate SIG) and a member of the UN Playing for the Planet Alliance’s Research working group. She currently serves as the Director, Research & Insights at 2k. Previously, Senior Societal Topography UX Research Lead at Google, and she led games research for Stadia Games & Entertainment’s Publishing division. Paula holds a dual MBA and MPA degree from Presidio Graduate School of Sustainable Management, and uses her experience in games to enable positive outcomes in education, 21st century skills development, workforce development, climate action, resiliency building, and social justice.

Jennifer Estaris is an award-winning game director, designer, and sustainability advocate whose work bridges play and purpose. She currently consults on games and sustainability with companies including Netflix and is developing a civic-engagement game inspired by Citizens' Assemblies. Jennifer directed Monument Valley 3, a nature-infused reimagining of the beloved series told through a story of flood recovery, which launched in December 2024. Featured in The Guardian, The Verge, and Polygon for her hope-punk approach, the game went on to win UKIE's Best Mobile Game and TIGA's Best Casual Game, and is nominated for 3 BAFTAs. She also directed the forest-conservation chapter The Lost Forest for Monument Valley 2, as well as Subway Surfers, the 4.5B-download global hit where she championed green liveops. At UNEP's Playing for the Planet, an alliance of 50+ game companies collaborating on sustainability, Jennifer serves as Storytelling Committee Co-Chair. She is also a board member of the IGDA and Co-Chair of the IGDA Climate SIG. A Filipina creative leader with roots at SYBO, Disney, and Nickelodeon, Jennifer has helped shape some of the industry's most iconic and socially conscious games. Thanks to support from Games London's Game Changers cohort, Jennifer is building her own studio, Estaris Works, where she is developing a game about healing from personal and planetary grief. Through talks at conferences and festivals such as GDC, Gamescom, and Games for Change, and as a co-author of The Game Needs to Change, Jennifer brings playtivism into practice, most recently by curating eco-punk experimental role-playing theatre. She invites others to create experiences that matter and to believe, with playful conviction, that the world can sail toward a joyful future. Games can change the temperature of the world… literally and emotionally.

Nashville-native, Toiya Kristen Finley, Ph.D., has been a freelancing writer and editor her entire adult life. She earned a doctorate in literature and creative writing from Binghamton University. Over her career, she has published more than 80 works of fiction, nonfiction, comics/manga, and games. Toiya has over 20 years of experience writing in a range of genres, tones, styles, and voices. She gained editorial experience interning at Henry Holt's imprint, Owl Books. At Binghamton, she founded the literary journal Harpur Palate and served as its managing/fiction editor. In 2011, she co-founded the Game Writing Tutorial at GDC Online with Tobias Heussner and served as an instructor in 2011 and 2012. In videogames, she has worked as a game designer, narrative designer, game writer, editor, and diversity/narrative consultant (or some combination of the five) on everything from AAA titles to mobile games to games for children to small indie projects. Her recent work includes writing visual novel Siren Song (Stardust Works), copyediting for Destiny 2 (Bungie), developmental editing on Insecure: The Come Up Game (Glow Up Games), writing/editing on Ritual of Raven, and editing Our Brilliant Ruin. As a presenter at conferences throughout the year, she has lectured on freelancing and storytelling and led workshops on narrative design and game design. She is a member of the IGDA Game Writing Special Interest Group's Executive Board. The Game Narrative Toolbox (CRC Press), a book on narrative design she co-authored with Jennifer Brandes Hepler, Ann Lemay, and Tobias Heussner, was published in 2015. Narrative Tactics for Mobile and Social Games: Pocket-Sized Storytelling (CRC Press), which she edited and contributed to, was published in 2019. Her latest books are Freelance Video Game Writing: The Life & Business of Digital Mercenary for Hire (2022) and Branching Story, Unlocked Dialogue: Designing and Writing Visual Novels (2023) both from CRC Press. Of late, she has been working on her own visual novel series, beginning with Incarnō: Everything Is Written.

Ni Hao! Rosy Fu is a Technical Artist at Naughty Dog. Her experience includes working on The Last of Us Part I & II and the recently announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. She is deeply passionate about creating games with strong artistic vision that convey powerful emotions and resonate deeply with players. Beyond game development, Rosy mentors aspiring developers through IGDA, helping to nurture the next generation of talent. As a multimedia artist, she also showcases her work at art conventions, sharing her creative journey across various platforms.

Dr. Ashley ML Guajardo (née Brown) is an award-winning teacher, streamer, and scholar. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Arizona State University, a Masters of Arts in Sociology from The University of Manchester (UK), and a PhD in Sociology from The University of Manchester (UK). Dr. Guajardo's research interests lie within the intersection of sexuality and play. She is the author of Sexuality and Role-Playing Games (Routledge 2015) and dozens of book chapters and journal articles on fandom, sexuality, videogames, and table-top roleplaying games. Currently, she is working on multiple book projects exploring how fandom and fantasy shape sexual desire. Previously, Dr. Guajardo was faculty at Brunel University London (2014-2016), and the University of Utah (2016-2025). She won awards for innovative and inclusive teaching at both institutions. Since 2017, she has hosted a weekly educational Twitch stream on game user research methods. She has also held several leadership positions in industry and academia-facing professional organizations. She was Vice President of the Global Game Jam (2020-1), conference co-director of the IGDA's Games User Research Special Interest Group (2021-2), and currently serves as president of the Digital Games Research Association (2025-7). In 2025, she was inducted as a fellow of the Higher Education Video Game Association.

Ross is the Founder of Loading Law, a Chicago-based law practice, and provides legal counsel to video game developers and entrepreneurs in the tech sector. Ross is also the Organizer of the Chicago Video Game Law Summit and an Adjunct Professor of Video Game Law at DePaul University. He speaks frequently on hot topics in law and technology. Ross also serves as the Chair of IGDA Chicago, Chair of the CBA YLS Creative Arts Committee, and Associate Board Member of Lawyers for the Creative Arts.

Brandon Huffman is the founder and managing partner of Odin Law and Media, a boutique firm dedicated to serving video game, technology, and media clients. With over a decade of experience advising developers, publishers, and high-growth companies, Brandon has negotiated complex deals across publishing, licensing, M&A, and IP strategy, including transactions opposite major industry players like Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Tencent, and Netflix. He also serves as general counsel to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). Brandon is known for helping studios navigate legal and business challenges from formation through financing and exit, and for scaling Odin's practice into a nationally recognized leader in games industry law.

Leyla (she/her) is a French Tunisian Games Producer who has been in the industry for 7 years, working primarily with AAA art teams. Currently with Santa Monica Studios, she comes from 5 years at Ubisoft San Francisco on XDefiant. In her spare time, Leyla loves to read, write, and create vlog style content for social media. She dedicates her spare time to uplifting margen individuals through her various mentorship roles, and is a member of the board for IGDA LA, helping to serve the greater Los Angeles Game Dev Community.

As a pioneer of network culture research, an early explorer of VR, and a longtime community advocate, Matthew Lee uses the power of games to change the world and improve people's lives. He serves as Chair of the IGDA Serious Games SIG, which promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration, connects serious game communities around the world through events and meetups, and advocates for greater awareness about serious games in the general game education curriculum. Additionally, he consults on serious games projects for the healthcare industry, works on integrating design and innovation curricula into healthcare education, and designs games and environments that promote well-being.

Anran Li is an Engineering Manager & Product Lead at Riot Games, working on their fighting game 2XKO. She started her career as a Software Engineer at Microsoft, where she helped ship Halo 5, Halo Wars 2, and Halo Infinite. Anran first became a leader while working at Twitch, helping streamers make a living doing what they love, on eSports, Subscriptions, Bits, and Emotes. Anran is a product-minded engineering leader, with technical speciality in around game systems and online services. Anran's personal mission is to help demystify games and tech, and make it more welcoming for underrepresented groups. She volunteers with organizations like the IGDA Foundation, AIAS DICE Foundation, and UCLA. She has also been a speaker at PAX, San Diego Comic Con, Game Access, and SINFO conferences.

Kenna is an interdisciplinary artist and producer. Kenna received a B.F.A from Rochester Institute of Technology. They also studied Physical Theatre at the Circus Center in the Clown Conservatory program. In 2020 they learned how to run an agile distributed circus and in 2021 they were a IGDA Foundation Diverse Game Developers: Virtual Exchange Velocity Program Recipient. They continued to work with the IGDA Foundation in coordinating the Virtual Exchange Velocity Program and Alumni Programming as well as producing indie games.

Sebastian Long is MD of Player Research (a Keywords Studio), the leading agency for insight into players and play. As a gameplay researcher Seb has led design-improving playtest studies for hundreds of games, spanning all genres, audiences and platforms - including for beloved IPs Sniper Elite, FIFA, World of Tanks, LittleBigPlanet, Talking Tom, Hungry Shark, LEGO, and games including Control and Elden Ring - and influencing the development direction of international projects for businesses including EA, Sony, Xbox, Tencent Games, and hundreds more. As Managing Director Seb leads a 20-person consultancy based in the UK and Canada, providing research that drives game development decision-making, as both a consultant research strategist and the company Director. Seb is a member of BAFTA, community leader within the IGDA Games User Research & UX SIG, prolific speaker and educator, and is based in Brighton on the UK south coast.

Robert Madsen began his coding career in 1979. Robert started a software firm in 1992 and completed his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 1998 from California State University. Robert entered the game industry in 2004, working for MumboJumbo in Dallas, TX in 2008. In 2009 he moved to Other Ocean Interactive in Charlottetown, PEI. Robert founded SynaptixGames, in 2011 where he continues as CEO and Studio Director. Robert is a member of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and Chair for the IGDA Indie SIG. Robert is also adjunct faculty at Northeastern University and teaches game economics.

Greg is a doctoral researcher, experienced second-level teacher and Chair of the IGDA LGBTQ+ Special Interest Group. His research revolves around recognising and documenting queer gaming experiences, with a particular interest in monstrosity, Irish Gothicism and memoir as methodology.  In his work as Chair of the LGBTQ+ SIG, Greg has overseen the development of support for queer game developers, including multiple game jams, career development opportunities and an international network. Currently, he is looking at how intersectional approaches to activism can support members further.

Lucien Parsons is an operations and investment strategist in the games industry, known for aligning creative vision with financial discipline. He co-founded ZeniMax Online Studios (Bethesda), led global games partnerships at AWS, sold a venture to Gartner, and helped scale or restructure multiple startups—some successful, some instructive. As a fractional COO and advisor, he brings a pragmatic, systems-driven approach to product, team, and go-to-market strategy for companies navigating launch and growth phases. Lucien's work focuses on monetization strategy, business models, product/market fit, and funding readiness. He has advised founders, joined boards, and helped secure millions in revenue and investment. As AWS's Global Games Partner Leader, he built a worldwide ecosystem of over 300 partners, generating hundreds of millions in cloud and service revenue. He also chaired the IGDA, championing sustainable and inclusive careers in games. With degrees from Wharton (MBA) and Johns Hopkins (MA, International Economics), and certifications in Scrum and cloud infrastructure, Lucien blends creative insight with operational rigor. He frequently speaks on the future of games, immersive tech, and the intersection of virtual and physical worlds, and continues to support emerging studios with hands-on execution and strategic guidance.

Josh Samuels has been a video game developer and software engineer for over 20 years. They are the Studio Lead for Raindrop Games where they worked on Arrival: Village Kasike, a strategy game about the Taino people of the Caribbean and Fishin' For Permission, a children's game about consent.  In 2015 Josh co-founded the Allies Special Interest Group (SIG) of the IGDA. This group's purpose is to educate people about issues faced by marginalized groups and provide tools to help everyone be a more effective ally.

Andrea Saravia is an award-winning game designer, keynote speaker and writer with over six years of experience in the gaming industry. Her credits include Civilization VII, Untamed: Survival, The Ouroboros Express and various upcoming independent titles. In addition to being part of the IGDA Next Gen Leaders, she is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Baltimore. Currently, she is a Narrative Designer and Writer at Deviant Games while continuing to build narrative systems for a wide array of clients through her consultancy.

Sho Sato is the CEO at LUDiMUS Inc., leading specialists group of creative industries like game, anime and manga. He is the co-founder and Secretary General at iGi, the first game incubator in Japan, and works as an advisor for So-Fu game accelerator by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and as the core member of Global Game Growth Gateway by Agency for Cultural Affairs. From 2024, he became the chairman of IGDA Incubation SIG, a working group for more than 120 leaders from incubators and accelerators in 61 countries.

Brian Schmidt is one of the early pioneers of the game audio industry. The 2008 recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, and 2017 inductee into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame, Brian has been creating game music, sounds and cutting-edge technology for more than 35 years. With a credit list of over 140 games and a client list including Electronic Arts, Zynga, Microsoft, Sony, Capcom, Sega, Data East, Namco and many others. Brian has used his combined expertise and experience in music composition, sound design and his deep technical knowledge to further the state of the art in game audio and his music has been featured in TV, Film and in the CD-set, Legends of Game Music. Brian began his career in game audio in 1987 as a composer, sound effects designer and music programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago - writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin-operated video games. While there, he was the primary composer of the iconic video game NARC and lead composer and audio lead for Black Knight 2000. His main theme from NARC was later recorded and released by The Pixies. In 1989, Brian left Williams and became one of the industry's first independent game composers, where he worked on such games as John Madden Football, the Desert Strike Series, Mutant League Football and the award-winning Crueball. Other credits include Guns and Roses Pinball, where he worked closely with Slash to create a truly interactive Rock and Roll game experience. In 1998, Brian was recruited by Microsoft to lead the direction of game audio technologies. While there, he joined the then-fledgling Xbox organization as the primary architect for its audio and music system. Brian has been credited with bringing Dolby Digital Surround Sound to interactive gaming through his efforts at Xbox (where he also created the original Xbox startup sound).Through his ten-year tenure at Microsoft, Brian continued to drive and advance game audio technologies through tools such the award-winning XACT (Xbox Audio Creation Tool); the first-of-its kind tool to provide interactive mixing for video games. Brian was also responsible for the overall audio system of the Xbox 360 game system, including the XMA audio compression format, winner of the G.A.N.G Best New Technology award and finalist in IGDA's Best new technology category. Brian currently works as a consultant to the video game industry working with companies large and small. Brian is the creator of GameSoundCon, the industry's largest conference dedicated to composing video game music and video game sound design. Brian is a frequent and in-demand speaker on game audio and game audio technologies, having given literally hundreds of educational and inspirational talks at events all over the world. Events such as the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft's Gamefest, Sega Devcon, and the Audio Engineering Society Conference, SiGraph and esteemed institutions such as Yale University, Northwestern University and Digipen have invited Brian to share his knowledge and insight into the industry. Brian received undergraduate degrees in music and computer science from Northwestern University in1985, where he created the first dual degree program between the School of Music and the Technological Institute. He went on to complete his Masters in Computer Applications in Music in 1987, where portions of his thesis work was published in the prestigious Computer Music Journal and presented by invitation to the AES special conference on Audio Technology. Brian currently serves as President of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), a position he was elected to in 2012; sits on the advisory board of the Game Developer Conference; is a former steering committee member of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (ia-sig) of the MMA; and has been a featured keynote speaker at GDC, Project BBQ and the Montreal Interactive Games Summit (MIGS).

Grant Shonkwiler first started making games when he was 12 years old, starting with modding and programming. Since then he has filled many different roles in the game industry: programmer, lead designer, technical producer and currently is a leadership coach and production consultant. His career has taken him from casual games at Megatouch Games, to AAA shooters at id Software and to Epic Games to work on Fortnite. Grant currently runs his own consulting company, and is the co-author of four books including Gear Up: Advanced Game Development Practices. Grant also enjoys building communities within the industry working with the IGDA and the GameDevDrinkup.

Dr. Jakin Vela (he/him) serves as the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). He is a sociologist and researcher focused on socio-technical cultures, minority stress, stigma, and diversity inclusion in tech (especially games and the games industry). His work highlights the effects of marginalization, group solidarity, and inclusion in virtual gaming spaces and organizational structures, especially among underrepresented groups. He also serves as CEO of Astral Interactive, a small indie studio focused on highlighting player empathy in gameplay, as well as MagiTech Management Solutions, a consulting firm on project management and process efficiency.

Parker (they/them) is a non-profit management and events specialist, with over a decade working with different organizations to help them grow. Often referred to as the wizard behind the curtain, they manage all aspects of IGDA's day to day operations, as well as on site presences at events. They are passionate about LGBTQ+ rights as well as mental health issues, and is a 2025 Safe in Our World Ambassador. They also volunteer with a Canadian non profit, the Women's Non Profit Network, as their Head of Awards, and work with Women in Games International as their Communications Manager. In their spare time, they love playing with their two cats, Nyx and Thanatos, and streaming dating sims.

Dana Ware is the Founder and CEO of Hidden Realities, an immersive storytelling studio creating interactive worlds that blend physical environments with augmented and mixed reality. Her work focuses on transforming everyday spaces into living story worlds where audiences become active participants rather than passive viewers.

A pioneer in large-scale spatial entertainment, Dana has architected stadium-scale augmented reality platforms capable of synchronizing tens of thousands of participants in real time. Turning live sports and entertainment venues into shared digital experiences layered seamlessly over the physical world.

Previously, Dana served as Creative Director at The VOID, where she helped define the emerging field of location-based virtual reality. She led multidisciplinary teams developing premium immersive experiences in collaboration with global studios including Disney, ILMxLab, and Sony, integrating cinematic storytelling with real-time engines and spatial design.

In addition to leading Hidden Realities, Dana advises several XR startups on product vision, immersive systems design, and scalable creative strategy. Her work sits at the intersection of emerging technology, narrative design, and human connection, exploring how spatial computing can reshape how stories are experienced in the real world.

An internationally recognized Chicana director and advocate for inclusive innovation, Dana serves as Chair of the IGDA Women in Games+ Special Interest Group, a judge for the Webby Awards, and an Advisor to the Future Realities Summit at the Game Developers Conference, helping shape the future of immersive media through community leadership and mentorship. She is also a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy.

Clayton Whittle is a researcher, educator, and designer for sustainability, specializing in games. At Dankook University, he led the teams that designed language learning games to replace traditional textbooks. At Pennsylvania State University and the Wilson Center, his research and design shifted towards leveraging games to combat the climate crisis. As a member of the IGDA Climate SIG, he led the research team that authored the Environmental Game Design Playbook and the education team for the Playing 4 the Planet Green Game Jam.   He currently works on the education team at the U.S. Green Building Council.