Here’s some other great initiatives that I think people should look into and support if they can. If I’ve missed someone or you have an initiative or org that could use a boost, please let me know here in comments, DM or over at @INeedDivGms

Brooklyn Gamery: A NY based game studio that created Prism Shell featuring Catt Small, Chris Algoo, and Dennis Liaw. They are doing cool things, y’all should follow them and sign up for their newsletter

Catt Small:  Catt is an amazing UX designer, game dev, usability expert and brilliant speaker. You should follow her to learn a lot about design, dev and other topics. She also gave a great TEDx Talk.

https://youtu.be/6eHIHrM8TF4

Katherine Cross: Katherine is a lover of games, words, dapper itinerant Valkyrie and games scholar extraordinaire. Her work can be found at Gamasutra, on her own site, Nuclear Unicorn, and  you can also support her work via Patreon.

Anykey.org:

AnyKey is an advocacy organization dedicated to supporting diverse participation in esports. We hope to foster welcoming spaces and positive opportunities for competitive players of all kinds.

Our current research and initiatives are focused on women in esports — from providing competitive gamers with resources, support, and opportunities, to collaborating with women in the industry, from sectors like game development and broadcasting, to build better gaming spaces. Women have long played an important role in competitive gaming and we are excited to promote, build on, and grow their involvement in the scene.

Our team is made up of industry professionals working in esports, as well as researchers focused on competitive gaming. Morgan Romine, Director of Initiatives, is known for her previous game industry work as co-founder and captain of the all-women professional gaming team, the Frag Dolls, and as the Esports Director for Firefall at Red 5 Studios. T.L. Taylor, Director of Research, is a Professor at MIT and sociologist whose work has focused on gaming. She is the author of Raising the Stakes: E-sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming (MIT Press, 2012) which examines the rise of e-sports and she is currently at work on a book about live-streaming.

This project is generously supported by Intel and ESL.

Match 3 Podcast The Match 3 Podcast; hosted by Gita Jackson, Patrick Klepek and Sam Phillips tackles a lot of different topics as they relate to games. They post weekly on Wednesdays, and are always funny, topical and relatable.

Feminist Frequency: Feminist Frequency is a 501(c)3 non profit! All our videos are available to everyone for free without any pesky advertising. Your contributions help sustain Feminist Frequency.Support FemFreq’s work & Subscribe to the newsletter FREQ

Nerdgasm Noire: Nerdgasm Noire is a podcast by five black women who cover pop culture, current issues and a lot of relevant topics. Catch the show live on Tuesdays, 8:45 pm. Support Nerdgasm Noire’s work via PayPal

From their About: Nerdgasm Noire Network is a weekly podcast featuring 5 nerdy women with strong opinions. Listen in live on Tuesdays at 8:45pm CST / 9:45pm EST. We discuss everything from the latest tv shows, books and whether the Apple Vs Android fight will end in tasty cronuts. – See more at:nerdgasmnoire.net/about/#sthash.i..

Black Girl Squee: Black Girl Squee is a podcast hosted by Inda Lauryn and Dust Daughter to highlight the accomplishements of black women in media, tech and other spaces. Follow @BlackGirlSquee on twitter, and check out their most current episode today!

Black Game Devs

An initiative to have a publicly accessible list of black game devs in the industry available. Hopefully this will stave off the usual, but we don’t know any black devs! Cry when lack of diversity is questioned. To add to the list, go here.

Published by cypheroftyr

Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers, attendance at the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make the industry better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep actual play stream on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics online, at conventions and as a public speaker.. She’s also contributed to publications at Green Ronin, Paizo and Monte Cook Games and is the co-developer for the Fifth Season RPG based on N.K. Jemisin’s three time Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. She’s the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a Twitch supported RPG and Actual Play stream, airing weekly on her channel, twitch.tv/cypheroftyr. Additionally, she is a Senior Annenberg labs Civic Media Fellow at USC. She’s also the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators; live streamed on her twitch channel, /cypheroftyr. She’s named as one of The Game Awards Future Class 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform. It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also named as one of Gamers of the Year 2020 by Kotaku along with three of her contemporaries. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021. Tanya is the programming & diversity coordinator for OrcaCon and GaymerX. She also serves on the Board of Directors for OrcaCon and was named the Chair for Take This in January 2023. She often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. Her writing about games and games critique appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Wiscon Chronicles, Vice Gaming, Paste Games, Mic, and other publications. She’s the editor of Game Devs and Others: Tales from the Margins (2018, CRC Press) and contributed to The Advanced Game Narrative Toolbox. (2019, CRC Press) Writer Bio for pubs: Tanya is the Founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago. She’s part of Rivals of Waterdeep, an actual play D&D show on twitch.tv/rivalsofwaterdeep; the programming coordinator for OrcaCon & GaymerX; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions. She’s on the Board of Take This as well as a Stream Ambassador, and was part of the inaugural cohort of The Game Awards Future Class. Her work to make the industry more inclusive has been highlighted in Game Changer, Directed by Tina Charles, WNBA star & olympian as well as filmmaker. The short documentary premiered at Tribeca 2021, as part of the Queen Collective; an initiative started by Queen Latifah, supported by Proctor & Gamble in an effort to get more Black women into film making. Game Changer was also featured as part of BETHer’s 2021 Juneteenth Programming on 19 June 2021.