IGDA-F Welcomes Three New Board Members
Lisy Kane, James Lewis, and Sarah Spiers Bring Decades of Experience to Foundation
LOS ANGELES – Feb. 23, 2023 – The International Game Developers Association Foundation (IGDA-F) proudly welcomes three renowned and respected professionals to its board of directors: Kepler Interactive producer and Girl Geek Academy co-founder Lisy Kane, Black Voices In Gaming board member and ID@Xbox Creative Partner Program Lead James Lewis, and the IGDA-F’s Director of Global Development and Electronic Arts Development Director Sarah Spiers. The expanded board will help the IGDA-F continue its mission of improving the lives of game developers by making the video game industry a more diverse and inclusive global community in 2023 and beyond.
Following a career beginning at League of Geeks, Lisy Kane continued to make her mark on the games industry by co-founding Girl Geek Academy in 2014. By 2025 the organization hopes to have taught 1,000,000 women and girls proficiency in STEM technologies in addition to empowering them to found their own startups. Kane stood alongside some of the industry’s most notable in Forbes’ 2017 30 Under 30: Games, serving as the only Australian developer to make the list. Kane currently leads production initiatives at Kepler Interactive and serves as an advisor and producer with the Kowloon Nights game investment fund.
James Lewis completed his Master’s in Game Design & Production at Full Sail University and has since spent 10 years at Xbox as a Publishing Producer, Xbox Game Studios Producer, and then Senior Business Development Manager. Currently, Lewis leads ID@Xbox’s Creative Partner Program to support independent developers. Lewis also co-lead Xbox’s Black community to release Project Amplify, an initiative to grow the Black game production community. He continues his efforts as a board member for Black Voices in Gaming.
Sarah Spiers boasts vast experience in game production, previously working with Earplay Inc., Filament Games, Studio Drydock, and as a senior producer at PUBG Corporation. Spiers currently serves as a Development Director at EA’s Maxis Studios. Over the course of her career, Spiers has been featured in Forbes’ 2022 30 Under 30: Games, inducted into the Women in Games Hall of Game, and worked on numerous award-winning titles. Spiers previously served as the IGDA-F’s Interim Executive Director and is the organization's current Director of Global Development.
“The IGDA-F is honored to welcome these three accomplished and impressive individuals to the board,” said Christina Alejandre, Chair of the IGDA Foundation. “Lisy, James, and Sarah’s perspectives as industry professionals will allow the Foundation to go even further in our goals of diversity and inclusion.”
To find out more about the IGDA Foundation’s initiatives visit http://igdafoundation.org. To stay up to date with the latest details, please follow @IGDAFoundation on Twitter.
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About IGDA Foundation
The IGDA Foundation (IGDA-F) advances a diverse workforce and ecosystem for the video game industry to better reflect the millions of passionate players enjoying video games worldwide.
The IGDA-F focuses on promoting a game development community representative of, and welcoming and inclusive to, every person who wants to make games. The IGDA-F garners support for diversity and inclusion in the video game industry with initiatives such as its IGDA Scholars, Velocity, and Next Gen Leaders programs, with others in the pipeline.
The IGDA Foundation is a public charity, registered as a 501(c)3 organization in the United States.
To find out more about the IGDA Foundation’s initiatives visit http://igdafoundation.org and donate here.
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