Darren Young (Fred Rosser)
Fred Rosser, better known under the WWE ring name of “Darren Young”, is the first WWE performer to come out publicly as gay while active as a wrestler with the company. Breaking down even more barriers, Fred is also the first ever openly gay selectable character in a sports video game, and we can’t wait to honor his achievements in both the digital and physical ring!
Gordon Bellamy
Raised in Reston, Virginia and best known for his 19 years of experience and leadership in the interactive entertainment industry. Gordon was the Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association from August 2010 until July 2012.
James Portnow
James Portnow is a one-of-a-kind gaming gallivanteer based in Seattle, Washington. He is a writer for Extra Credits as well as a well known game developer who has worked on games ranging from Call of Duty to Farmville. He’s been cited by CNN, Forbes, The USA Today and numerous others for his views on the social and political aspects of games.
Mattie Brice
Mattie Brice is a play critic, designer, and activist. She focuses her writing on diversity initiatives in the games industry, often bringing in the perspective of marginalized minority voices to publications like Paste, Kotaku, The Border House, and Pop Matters. Mattie also consults, speaks, and teaches about play. Her studies have led her to explore narrative design and plans to push the borders of how we think play.
David Gaider
David Gaider is a Canadian writer and game designer, working for Edmonton, Alberta-located game developer BioWare since 1999. David is the head writer for the Dragon Age series and an amazing guy!
Colleen Macklin
Colleen Macklin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Design and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design in New York City and Director of PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab), a lab focused on developing games for experimental learning and social engagement.
Zach Weinersmith
Zach Weinersmith is the creator of the comic strip Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. He has a degree in literature and 3/8ths of a degree in physics. He published science fiction gamebooks entitled “Trial of the Clone (1 and 2)” and as well as a collection of SMBC comics revolving around the theme of Science called “Science: Ruining Everything Since 1543.” A friend of gaymers and geeks worldwide, he runs one of the largest webcomics with over half a million hits a day and featuring non traditional couples (including gay nerds!). He also co-hosts “The Weekly Weinersmith” with Kelly.