Announcing the G4C2022 Special Award Winners! 🌟

The Games for Change Awards honors 4 special award recipients at this year's Festival!

Each year, the Games for Change Awards recognizes individuals, games, developers, and companies who have made significant contributions to the gaming industry. This year we are thrilled to honor a group of four amazing people and organizations actively making the video game industry a kinder, more inclusive, and more responsible space. Explore the winners below! VANGUARD AWARD - Eve Crevoshay The Vanguard Award is presented annually to a notable individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the Games for Change community. This year, the Vanguard award recognizes Eve Crevoshay, Executive Director of Take This, for her work to increase the support for mental health in the gaming community and inside the game industry.   INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP AWARD - Schell Games The Industry Leadership Award recognizes companies doing exemplary social impact work within the games industry. This year's recipient, Schell Games has consistently pushed the boundaries of social impact video games and immersive media for over 20 years — inspiring millions to engage with essential educational content in a fun and exciting way, and building a cross-sector learning community in the company's hometown of Pittsburgh.   GIVING AWARD - Child's Play The Giving Award honors companies, organizations, and individuals who make contributions through community initiatives, fundraising, scholarships, and donations. Child's Play receives the Giving Award this year for providing support for children in difficult circumstances through video games, and educating the world on how games can be used for healing and comfort.    ACCESSIBILITY AWARD - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac Games The inaugural Accessibility Award honors a game that represents a substantial advancement in accessibility to reach a more inclusive player base. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has expanded our understanding of how games can enrich lives and be playable for everyone, and has demonstrated how AAA studios can effectively build a foundation for accessibility features and implement them across multiple titles.   Be sure to tune in to the 2022 Games for Change Awards Ceremony happening at 7 pm EST on Friday, July 15th to celebrate our special award recipients! Tickets for this year's Festival are still available! There are only 6 days left to get tickets at the regular-priced rate. You don't want to miss the first-ever Hybrid Games for Change Festival! Secure your spot for #G4C2022! Games for Change is still accepting applications for in-person volunteers to help bring this year's Festival to life. This is the LAST CALL to get involved with this year's Festival. Be a part of the first-ever G4C Hybrid Festival! Apply now. Copyright © 2022 Games for Change, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website www.gamesforchange.org or gamesforchange.org/festival/ You can opt out of this newsletter at any time. Our mailing address is: Games for Change P.O. Box 770699 Woodsite, New York 11377 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Announcing the #G4C2022 Schedule! 📅

Explore in-person and virtual sessions featuring over 250 speakers from around the world! 

We are thrilled to announce that the in-person and virtual schedules for #G4C2022 are now available! With over 60 hours of content, dedicated networking sessions, and almost 250 speakers from around the world, join us to explore groundbreaking games and immersive media projects across multiple programming tracks. Check out some exciting sessions below and explore the full Festival schedule today. Be sure to secure your spot for this year's Festival! We have extended regular-priced ticketing until Tuesday, July 5th. EXPLORE THE FULL #G4C2022 SCHEDULE! Vignesh Mukund (Associate National Programme Officer, Games for Learning, UNESCO MGIEP) Can Play Build Peace? is about the Digital Games for Peace challenge by UNOCT, UNAOC, and UNESCO MGIEP, where an interdisciplinary cohort of youth were trained and supported to design video games embedded with social-emotional learning and intercultural dialogue competencies to build peace. (In-person) Dan Goldenberg (Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Activision Blizzard / Executive Director, Call of Duty Endowment) Despite the urgent need to fill healthcare worker vacancies to battle the pandemic, 50% of exceptionally qualified former military medics who want to work in the civilian healthcare profession cannot find jobs in the industry. Through a completely integrated marketing and communications plan, including significant in-game aspects, the Call of Duty team rallied to create both awareness and action on this issue. Learn how each element of the campaign came together to drive systemic change. (In-person) Youngmoo Kim (Director & Professor, Drexel University, ExCITe Center) In this session, explore the Making Music in Minecraft program, which (subversively) also teaches the foundations of coding. In this interactive session, participants can join live activities on our Minecraft server to experience a range of STEAM activities developed in Minecraft to foster creative concepts like design, scale modeling, and collaboration. These are all offered as free enrichment programs by the ExCITe Center at Drexel University for middle school students in the West Philly Promise Zone, an historically underserved neighborhood. All activities emphasize culturally responsive pedagogy and digital equity via creative computing. (Virtual) Latoya Peterson (Co-Founder & CXO, Glow Up Games) Loving games led Latoya Peterson and Mitu Khandaker to start the first all-women of color founded studio, Glow Up Games, and launch their first title based in the world of HBO's Insecure. But, in three years of existence, they have faced funding inequities, the trials of game development, and a global pandemic. This session will cover the realities of starting, growing, and scaling a studio with an emphasis on storytelling around black and brown joy. (In-person) Susan Rivers (Executive Director & Chief Scientist, iThrive Games Foundation) Games can be designed to use the connective and reflection-prompting power of play so that players develop and strengthen their social and emotional skills, and this is especially powerful when teens are involved throughout the design process. This talk shares the Game Design Studio approach where, through design and in gameplay, teens practice regulating emotions, exercising curiosity, understanding systems thinking, and engaging in social change actions to benefit their community. (Virtual) Micaela Mantegna (Abogamer / TED Fellow / Berkman Klein Center Affiliate) Beyond the hype, what are the possibilities and pitfalls of creating the Metaverse, and what makes it different from the Internet or other virtual worlds? Can we ethically create it, or will it be the new iteration of surveillance capitalism? Join Micaela Mantegna, a leading expert in video game and metaverse policy, as she takes a look at some of these new questions surrounding this new field, and investigates what role games can have in creating a safer metaverse for everyone. (Virtual)   SECURE YOUR SPOT FOR #G4C2022! Are you an educator, policymaker, game designer, or just someone who loves games and wants to see a better world? Join us for the 2022 Games for Change Festival Workshop series! On July 10 -11, join us at The Microsoft Technology Center in NYC for 12 workshops and professional development opportunities to explore diverse social learning experiences. Connect with innovators across sectors, and gain tangible skills you can use to make an impact! Sign-up for any of our amazing 2-hour workshops for only $50 each! Questions? Reach out to us at festival@gamesforchange.org. Join our Workshops Series Today! Games for Change is still looking for volunteers for #G4C2022! Join us and bring the Festival to life. We are looking for in-person volunteers to assist with this year's Festival. Learn more about how to get involved now. Copyright © 2022 Games for Change, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website www.gamesforchange.org or gamesforchange.org/festival/ You can opt out of this newsletter at any time. Our mailing address is: Games for Change P.O. Box 770699 Woodsite, New York 11377 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.