Group works to make social impact through video games
July 13, 2010 — Games for Change, the leading global advocate for making and supporting digital social impact games, has named Asi Burak and Michelle Byrd as Co-Presidents.
Burak and Byrd will work together on the strategic vision of the organization and will jointly oversee all programmatic initiatives. Burak will take the lead on curation, development, and execution of programs and services to raise the production, quality and influence of social impact games, and serves as a spokesperson for the organization. Byrd will take the lead on institutional relationship and partnership efforts, along with fundraising, business affairs, financial management, and communications strategy.
Burak co-founded Impact Games, creators of the internationally acclaimed “PeaceMaker” and “Play the News” platforms. Byrd has served for 12 years as Executive Director of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers in the U.S.
The organization is looking to expand beyond its well-established Games for Change Festival, the only event dedicated to the growing movement of Digital Games for Social Change. The Festival convenes leaders from government, philanthropy, civil society, academia, and the game industry.
The organization is currently working with USAID and Pulitzer-prize winning The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn in bringing their best-selling book, “Half the Sky,” and its growing movement to emancipate women to a mass audience using the popularity of video games.
Learn more about Games for Change at www.gamesforchange.org/ourwork
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