Nurturing New Voices: We believe that one of the main
obstacles to success for new industry professionals from underrepresented and
marginalized communities is a lack of support and mentorship for their work,
and a lack of awareness that GAMA exists. We have begun working to connect new
retailers and publishers to coaches—successful industry leaders—and peer
mentors, hoping to see GAMA’s membership expand to include new companies and
designers who would not otherwise find successful careers. This includes our Horizons Fellowship Program that a six-month accelerator for prospective and newly established tabletop game publisher and retail store owners who are members of historically underrepresented communities based on (but not limited to) race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion and/or ability.
Educating GAMA
Members: In concert with the Education Committee, the Diversity
Committee is excited to help design educational modules for GAMA members to
help them understand diversity and inclusion practices that will strengthen
their businesses and secure opportunities for marginalized people across our
industry. We hope to see GAMA become a wellspring of resources for members as
we all work to transform existing institutions to seize the opportunities
diversity makes possible.
GAMA Accountability: GAMA itself—as both an institution
and a collection of member organizations—must change to both meet the needs of
the current membership and to create an inclusive environment that represents
our collective values. It is this committee’s role and responsibility to hold
GAMA’s leadership and staff accountable to handle issues of diversity and
inclusion with more forward-thinking activity, and we are dedicating time and
resources toward pushing GAMA on its communication, activities, and commitments
moving forward.
How You Can Help
If this work is
appealing to you and you believe that you have energy, expertise, and
experience to offer the committee, please reach out to Peter Yang [at peter.yang@gama.org] and let us know that you’d like
to be a part of our work or fill out the volunteer form below! The most beautiful part of community work is that
there is no contribution too small to matter, and many of our best ideas will
come from those who bring fresh eyes—and a great deal of passion!—to old
problems.
The structure of our
committee has already taken shape, but we are eager to talk to new folks
because there is still so much left to decide and act upon. We have put a focus
on prioritizing leaders from underrepresented groups so far, but this work is
something all of us must do together. If you care about expanding diversity in
our industry and GAMA’s role within that expansion, please reach out to us and
let us know you want to help.
We have no illusions
about the difficulty and challenges of the work ahead of us; diversity and
inclusion are easy buzzwords to throw into a mission statement without really
making any serious change. But we also know that the second best time to plant a
tree is today! We cannot hope that the work of diversity is done for us. We
have to do it ourselves.
GAMA is a
member-driven organization that has the potential to shape our industry for
decades to come; we hope you join us in seizing upon the opportunity to shape
GAMA and its diversity and inclusion efforts alongside us.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Resources
GAMA Resources & Announcements
Other Resources
We recognize that this list is not exhaustive or complete and
welcome suggestions of resources that would be of use for our members. Please
send suggestions for additional resources to David Abelson.
