Women in Games has appointed a new four-person executive board – consisting of Dovetail Games’ Gemma Johnson Brown, Professor Ruth Falconer, CEO Marie-Claire Isaaman, and founder and COO David Smith – and plans to expand its team further with two new positions: marketing director and events manager.
With the inaugural meeting set for next month, the new executive board will meet monthly to "manage strategically the day-to-day activities of this not-for-profit group", whilst the "newly revitalised" advisory board will meet quarterly.
The Women in Games Advisory Board currently consists of Christine Bigelow, 2K; Dan Wood, Ukie; Kish Hirani, BAME in Games; Marine Cabour, Russells; Michelle Tilley, Sony Interactive Entertainment; Nick Ferguson, Amazon; Rachael Gregg-Smythe, Cubic Motion; Rachel Moss, J Walter Thompson; Rosemary Ball, Chucklefish; Rupert Whitehead, Google; Simon Smith, Thumbfood & Gameopolis; Siobhan Thomas, IGDA London; and Vanessa Joyce, Renwick Management.
"Women in Games has been a grassroots organisation relying on goodwill, ad hoc sponsorship donations and the tireless efforts of volunteers who believe in our cause and want to help," said CEO Marie-Claire Isaaman. "I personally want to thank everyone who has supported us and contributed so much over the years. But you can only get so far on goodwill alone. Therefore we are focused on building an organisation capable of delivering deeds as well as words and the creation of the Executive Board and revised Advisory Board is one of the many steps the organisation is taking to achieve this."
2019 sees the organisation celebrate its 10th anniversary. The European Women in Games Conference 2019 "will be a very special event", "celebrating the achievements of Women in Games, and looking forward to how the organisation continues to make impactful positive change".
Last August, Women in Games and 2K/Hangar 13 announced a partnership to encourage a more proactively diverse and inclusive hiring policy across the publisher and its development studios. As part of the push, 2K and Hangar 13 joined the Women in Games board.
More information on Women in Games can be found here.