2019 Games for Change Festival: Full Schedule

11:15am EDT

How to Talk About Games, Today

In yet another year where video games have been blamed for violence, the World Health Organization included “gaming disorder” in the International Classification of Disease proposed updates, and news media implicated video games as a leading factor in unemployment. How do we talk about the work they do? This fast paced, information-rich collection of mini-talks and Q&A provides attendees with the tools to have a meaningful dialogue about games, evidence of their benefit and the critique of their harm. It exposes the research, politics, and practicalities of the global games community.

Moderators

Lindsay Grace

Knight Chair, University of Miami

Lindsay Grace is a Knight Chair at the University of Miami. He was founding director of the American University Game Lab and Studio. His work has been awarded by the Games for Change Festival, the Digital Diversity Network, Black Enterprise and others. He has given talks at the Game... Read More →

Speakers

Dr. Mia Consalvo

Professor, Concordia University

Mia Consalvo is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Game Studies and Design at Concordia University in Montreal. She has most recently completed the book Real Games: What's Legitimate and What's Not in Contemporary Videogames, co-written with Christopher A. Paul. Mia runs the... Read More →

Roger Altizer

Director, Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab, Queensland University of Technology

Roger Altizer, Jr. is the co-founder of the Entertainment Arts and Engineering, the Director of Digital Medicine for the Center for Medical Innovation, and the founding Director of The GApp lab (Therapeutic Games and Apps) at the University of Utah. He works in serious and medical... Read More →

Andy Phelps

Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

Andrew "Andy" Phelps is a professor at the Human Interface Technologies Laboratory NZ (HITLabNZ) within the College of Engineering at the University of Canterbury. He also serves as a Professor of Art & Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). He is the founder of the... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 11:15am - 12:00pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Civics & Social Issues, Panel

1:00pm EDT

ETC Presents: Piggy Banksy Live! - A Multiplayer Experience on Art and Provocation

Graduate students at the Entertainment Technology Center from Carnegie Mellon University designed a digital collaborative art experience that encourages players to find their inner provocateur to create the social change they want to see in the world.

In this experience, players are asked to reflect on why they came to Games For Change in the first place, what social issues they care about discussing, and how to start their own creative revolution through the power of art.

Speakers

Zoe Bai

UX Designer, Carnegie Mellon University

Zoe is a UX designer, a 3D artist, and a creative coder. She is passionate about serious games, educational games, games for mental health and human-computer interaction. She seeks to bring new technologies such as AR/VR/XR into experience design. She is working at Electronic Arts... Read More →

Boyi Liu

Experience Designer, Carnegie Mellon University

Boyi is an interaction designer and 2D artist from Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center. He is passionate about location-based entertainment and believes that every little detail can make a great impact on the overall user experience. He is working at Tencent... Read More →

Tera Nguyen

Product Manager / Producer, Carnegie Mellon University

Tera Nguyen is a product manager and creative producer for games and interactive experiences. Tera has 5 years of experience working with interdisciplinary teams to define use cases, success metrics and development processes for high-tech products that use Virtual Reality, Augmented... Read More →

Kevin Lee

Co-Producer, Carnegie Mellon University

Kevin is the co-producer, game designer, and writer on the ETC Paradigm team, specializing in unique interactions on video games. He is also an animator, musician/producer, and street dancer interested in the intersection of the arts and technology.

Mingqi Tan

Programmer, Carnegie Mellon University

Currently, I am working a grad student at Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center. Previously, I was a Computer Science student at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Saumya Lahera

Programmer - (GPUSW), Carnegie Mellon University

Saumya Lahera has a background in software engineering, Apple Frameworks, and has specific interests in GPU APIs, Frameworks and Application Development.

Tuesday June 18, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Civics & Social Issues

2:30pm EDT

Esports in Education

Join a diverse group of individuals passionate about building the K-12 to college / pro pipeline by providing opportunities for students to get involved in esports. This panel includes organizers of educational programs, competitive student gamers, parents, coaches and educators.

Moderators

Katie Salen

Professor, UC Irvine

Katie Salen is a Professor in the Department of Informatics at the University of California at Irvine, a member of the Connected Learning Lab, and Chief Designer and co-founder of Connected Camps. Her work focuses on meeting kids where they are at in order to design engaging, play-based... Read More →

Speakers

J Collins

CEO, Liminal Data

J is an educator, game-based education evangelist, and LGBTQ+ advocate. They are the CEO of Liminal Data, a data driven game-based education startup, and previously led game-based education policy at the U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian Institution. J founded and coached... Read More →

Reeran Kim

Esports Mom

Reeran's 14yo, Yunhee, played video games since childhood. Reeran has supported her daughter’s evolving interests in games including Nintendo DS, Minecraft, Roblox, Overwatch, Apex. As Yunhee's home-schooling teacher, and biggest fan, she has helped her daughter balance her interests... Read More →

Yunhee Chi

Aspring Overwatch Pro

Yunhee Chi (aka Aniyun) is a 15yo Overwatch master flex support and aspiring pro player. She has played video games since childhood, starting with the Nintendo DS and progressing on to PC games like Minecraft, Roblox, Overwatch, Apex. Through esports she enjoys meeting people... Read More →

Chris Aviles

Teacher, Fair Haven School District

Chris Aviles is a teacher at Knollwood middle school in Fair Haven, New Jersey. There he runs the renown Fair Haven Innovates program he created in 2015. Part of the FH Innovates program includes the FH Knights, a first of its kind esports team. As coach of the FH Knights, Aviles... Read More →

Joshua Hafkin

Founder, Game Gym

Josh Hafkin is the founder of the Game Gym club esports team and training center in Potomac, MD. The Game Gym is dedicated to changing the stereotypes surrounding video games by emphasizing playing together as a team. Before the Game Gym, Josh worked for Bethesda Softworks as a brand... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 2:30pm - 3:15pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Esports, Panel

3:30pm EDT

Agencies of Play: Science Games in the Federal Government

From research applications to education outreach, government entities are leveraging science games as a powerful tool to engage a wealth of different audiences. Featuring speakers from the Smithsonian Science Education Center, the National Institutes of Health, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, this panel will showcase case examples of the development and implementation of games for good in the government.

Moderators

Elizabeth Newbury

Director of the Serious Games Initiative, The Wilson Center

Elizabeth Newbury is the Director and Program Associate for the Serious Games Initiative for the Wilson Center, leading Wilson's use of games in engaging the public around policy research. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Bryn Mawr College, and a Master and PhD from the Department... Read More →

Speakers

Dr. David Miller

Program Director, National Institutes of Health

Dr. David Miller is a Program Director at the NIH's National Cancer Institute, the federal government's principal agency for funding cancer research, training, and technology development. Dave has led multiple NIH programs supporting the development of data science software tools... Read More →

Reuben Brenner-Adams

Interactive Developer, Smithsonian Institution

Reuben Brenner-Adams is an award-winning game designer and interactive developer based in Washington, D.C. Employed by the Smithsonian Institution, Reuben creates games, apps, and other interactive digital media for use in K-8 science classrooms and beyond. Reuben is a voting member... Read More →

Ryan Seymour

Education Technology Specialist, Smithsonian Science Education Center

As the Education Technology Specialist at the Smithsonian Science Education Center, Ryan develops educational resources that accompany SSEC's digital STEM products. He also assists with the development of digital products including: games, ebooks, 3D models, videos, and 360 degree... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 3:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Games for Learning, Panel

4:45pm EDT

Non-Profits Doing Good for Games

Moderators

Lucien Parsons

Chairman/Interim Exec Dir, International Game Developers Association

Lucien is the Chairman of the IGDA and has worked in video games and AR/VR for the last 15 years. He runs MAVRIC (the Mixed/Augmented/Virtual Reality Innovation Center) at the University of Maryland and is interim ED for IGDA. He was a founder of Zenimax Online Studios, maker of Elder... Read More →

Speakers

Gordon Bellamy

CEO, University of Southern California

Gordon teaches at USC Games, serves as head of the USC Bridge incubator and USC esports faculty advisor. He has played key business and product leadership roles at Tencent, Electronic Arts, as a designer on Madden NFL Football, and MTV.Gordon serves as the president / CEO of the Gay... Read More →

Susan Gold

Interim Director, Founder, The Global Game Jam

Susan Gold, an American scholar with a 20 year academic career and positive social impact. Susan created the Global Game Jam, a hackathon for games that has transformed the lives of game developers in over 113 countries. She's a proven leader, facilitator and activist trying to... Read More →

Meggan Scavio

President, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Foundation

As the AIAS President, Scavio promotes, advances and recognizes the outstanding achievements in the interactive entertainment industry worldwide. She oversees the AIAS’ many initiatives benefiting the video games industry: the D.I.C.E. Summit – the industry’s premier gathering... Read More →

Tuesday June 18, 2019 4:45pm - 5:30pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Civics & Social Issues, Panel

11:15am EDT

Project Briefs: New Approaches

In this series of project briefs we’ll learn about four new ways of seeing impactful games in citizen journalism, in anti-bias training, play testing with grant stakeholders, and how to look back at a game that criticizes the idea of games for change itself.

Eric Espig
Citizen Journalism in the Middle East: a VR Game by VGA Gallery and Media Majlis

Karina Popp
Games Changed: A Postmortem

Anna Feigenbaum
Playtesting for Social Justice: Ten Takeaways from Developing RiotID: The Board Game

Karen Schrier
A New Approach to Bias Training: Developing Perspective-Taking and Empathy through Game Jams

Speakers

Anna Feigenbaum

Senior Lecturer in Digital Storytelling, Bournemouth University

Anna Feigenbaum is a writer, teacher and public speaker. She has lead over 50 international workshops on social justice and design. She is a co-author of Protest Camps (Zed 2013) and the author of Tear Gas (Verso 2017). Her writing can be found in The Guardian, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera... Read More →

Dr. Karen Schrier

Associate Professor & Director of Games, Marist College

Dr. Karen Schrier is Associate Professor/Director of Games at Marist College. Prior, she worked at Scholastic, Nickelodeon, and BrainPOP. She’s been researching and designing games for 15+ years, making one of the first AR games. She’s the editor of the Learning, Education & Games... Read More →

Eric Espig

Digital Media Specialist, Northwestern University in Qatar

Eric Espig designs and produces interactive exhibitions for museums. Currently working in Doha, Qatar for Northwestern University he has in the past worked at the Canadian Museum of History as head of digital projects and as digital manager and content developer with the Royal British... Read More →

Karina Popp

Freelance Designer & Instructor

Karina is a person living, making game-things, and teaching game-things in New York. She recently finished the Nuovo-nominated 10 Mississippi, a stop motion photography game about intimacy and banality. She made games for Sesame Workshop, presented games at festivals such as Come... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 11:15am - 12:05pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Civics & Social Issues, Project Brief

12:15pm EDT

Well Played: Ndemic Creations

Join us for a close examination of two landmark works from Ndemic Creations: Plague Inc and Rebel Inc, games that simulate complex processes (the spread of epidemics and insurgency in an invaded country) to evoke play, exploration and edification. Naomi Clark will play and discuss Ndemic's work, joined by James Vaughan of Ndemic for a discussion.

Speakers

Naomi Clark

Assistant Arts Professor / Co-Chair, NYU

Over the last twenty years, Naomi Clark has designed, written for and produced games for a variety of platforms and audiences, contributing to a few dozen projects so far. She's the co-author of a textbook titled A Game Design Vocabulary and teaches on the faculty of the NYU Game... Read More →

James Vaughan

CEO & Founder, Ndemic Creations

James is the creator of Plague Inc. - a global hit with over 120 million players and one of the top five most successful paid mobile games ever.Originally a hobby, Plague Inc. has consistently remained at the top of the charts since 2012 and James was even invited to the CDC to talk... Read More →

Drew Davidson

Director, ETC @ CMU

Drew Davidson is a professor, producer and player of interactive media. His background spans academic, industry and professional worlds and he is interested in stories and transformational experiences across texts, comics, games and other media. He explores the art, design and science... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 12:15pm - 12:45pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Civics & Social Issues, Talk

2:30pm EDT

The NBA 2K League: Building an Esports Community

he NBA 2K League, a professional esports league co-founded by the NBA and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., launched in 2018 and features 21 teams and the best 126 NBA 2K players in the world. Join NBA 2K League Managing Director Brendan Donohue and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Zach Leonsis for a fireside chat about launching the first esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league, growing the league’s audience domestically and internationally, and driving diversity and inclusion.

Moderators

Scott Cole

Broadcaster, NBA 2K League

Play-by-Play Voice of the NBA2KLEAGUE.

Speakers

Brendan Donohue

Managing Director, NBA 2K League

As Managing Director of the NBA 2K League, Brendan Donohue is responsible for overseeing the first official esports league operated by a U.S. professional sports league. Donohue, a sports industry veteran with more than two decades of experience in team and league operations, manages... Read More →

Zachary Leonsis

Senior VP, Strategic Initiatives, Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Zachary Leonsis is senior vice president of strategic initiatives for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), a multi-platform sports, media, entertainment, and technology company located in the heart of downtown Washington, DC. MSE is best known for its fanfacing brands which include... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 2:30pm - 3:00pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Esports, Talk

3:15pm EDT

Transforming the Experience of Physical Activity Through Fitness Gaming

Mobile apps, wearables, VR, and AR are radically changing the fitness and wellness landscapes. New products, technologies and design thinking approaches rooted in gaming are being leveraged on a variety of platforms with the aid of experts in wellness, fitness, and maintaining active lifestyles. Whether offering support and motivation to undertake a consistent physical activity program, leveraging experiential tech to provide a broad range of new fitness gaming experiences or advancing efforts to standardize common understandings around the type, nature, and intensity of physical workouts -- this panel offers key insights into the evolving nature of tech, fitness, and game thinking.

Moderators

Margaret Wallace

Founder, KijiCo

Margaret Wallace is Chief Executive Officer of San Francisco-based KijiCo (www.kijico.com) and Co-Founder of Brooklyn-based Playmatics. She’s an award-winning entrepreneur and creator of digital and real-world games, products and other interactive experiences. An inventor and innovator, her games-related achievements have spanned a variety of industry sectors, ranging fro... Read More →

Speakers

Aaron Stanton

CEO, VR Health Institute

Aaron Stanton is the Director of the VR Health Institute, executive producer of the hit game QuiVr, and an investor in Silicon Valley. After years in the game industry as a journalist for the NY Times Co, he founded BookLamp, a machine learning company acquired by Apple in 2014. After... Read More →

Ianthe Mellors

Head of Fitness, Fit XR

Ianthe is a professional dancer and teaching artist from England. She has been performing nationally since age five and has been teaching group fitness for nearly a decade. Ianthe has partnered with Nike, Reebok, ASOS, Adidas, Women’s Health and Sweaty Betty. She uses her dance... Read More →

Jamie Rosen

Founder & CEO, WayBetter

Jamie is a serial entrepreneur who started his career as a toy inventor and later dropped out of Harvard Business School to start his first internet company. He has 10 patents and sold his personal patent portfolio to Yahoo! He is currently the Founder and CEO of WayBetter, which... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 3:15pm - 4:00pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Health & Wellness, Panel

4:30pm EDT

Distribution Strategies: Lessons Learned from the Field

More than ever before, parents are likely to be current or former gamers and teachers see the benefits of games. But surveys show that 55% of parents and 80% of teachers cannot find the digital learning tools they are looking for, and high-quality games lack distribution to a broad audience. Join our panelists for a discussion of lessons from the field of games for learning, including which partnerships, marketing strategies and development approaches add up to greater reach and sustainability.

Moderators

Michelle Miller

Co-Founder, Games and Learning

Michelle Miller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Games and Learning, where she develops solutions to help parents and teachers find, buy and adopt high quality digital content for children. Michelle led a portfolio of game-based learning projects as Managing Director of the Joan Ganz... Read More →

Speakers

Noelle Millholt

Co-founder & CRO, BEGIN

As Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Noelle has helped guide BEGIN to be one of the largest, fastest growing platforms for early childhood learning. She oversees all of Homer’s business development opportunities in the US and internationally. Prior to Homer, Noelle was the COO... Read More →

Dan White

CEO, Filament Games

Dan White believes that good gameplay and good learning are complementary rather than oppositional forces. An alumnus of Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Dan earned an M.S. in Education Technology under seminal learning game scholars Drs. Kurt Squire... Read More →

Robin Yang

Senior Product Manager, CodeCombat

Robin is a Senior Product Manager at CodeCombat, where she helps build the most engaging game for learning programming. As a speaker and advocate, she focuses on ways that individuals can gain control of their careers and understand the kind of work that truly resonates with them... Read More →

Wednesday June 19, 2019 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Starr Foundation

Games for Learning, Panel