Women in Technology Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Games Alliance are hosting a virtual panel for high school students, college students, and young professionals, about women and careers in the video game industry. We've joined forces to bring experts from multiple gaming leaders in our industry. Hear from leaders at Midwest Games, Maydm, Madison Women in Tech, GameHERS, Filament Games and Wisconsin Games Alliance.
We continue to build our panelist line up to include game engineers, designers, artists and producers.
If you’re curious about how to get into gaming or if you are a parent of a gamer; want to better understand career opportunities in gaming, and quite simply how to get started, you should join this FREE event.
Panelists
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Autumn Beauchesne, Game Engineer, Field Day Lab
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Brooke Stampfli, Lead Animator, Raven Software
Brooke, a graduate of the Madison College Animation program in 2011, kickstarted her career at Raven Software as a Motion Capture Technician during her second year of the program. Climbing the Animation ladder over 13 years, she recently took on the role of Lead Animator in 2021.
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Laura Beukema, Game Designer III for Filament Games
Laura Beukema is a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design and an Emmy-nominated game designer. Over the last 14 years, she has designed and consulted on a wide variety of learning games and products. She currently works at Filament Games from her Twin Cities home.
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Amber Holkenbrink, Principal Experience Designer, Respawn Entertainment
Amber Holkenbrink is a Principal Experience Designer currently working on Apex Legends. With 16 years of experience in the gaming industry, she has contributed to the art, animation, and design of more than 30 titles. Amber was a member of the launch and live ops support team for Call of Duty: Warzone for four years before joining the studio leadership team at Respawn Wisconsin.
Partnering Organizations
- Women in Technology Wisconsin, Natalie Nelson
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Wisconsin Games Alliance, Jennifer Javornik
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Madison Women in Tech, Hilary Stohs-Krause
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Maydm, Dr. Christina Outlay
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GameHERS, Rebecca Brock Dixon
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Midwest Games, Jennifer Corbett
NAME: Jennifer Javornik, Chief Partnerships Officer and Wisconsin Games Alliance Board Member
ORGANIZATION: Wisconsin Games Alliance
The Wisconsin Games Alliance is a state-wide network of game studios, independent developers, faculty, entrepreneurs, and regional organizations with the shared mission of promoting Wisconsin as a premier space for game development and design by supporting the Wisconsin games industry, developing local talent through educational outreach, and building community.
Jennifer Javornik
Jennifer Javornik is a video game executive who specializes in partnerships, business development, revenue growth, and entrepreneurship. She is currently the Chief Partnerships Officer for Filament Games, a video game studio that specializes in digital games, simulations, VR and AR experiences for positive impact. She is also a founding member and former Executive Director of the Wisconsin Games Alliance and currently serves on the Unity Global Education Board. Jennifer has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.S. in Information Technology from Northwestern.
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NAME: Dr. Christina Outlay, Executive Director
ORGANIZATION: Maydm
Maydm's Mission
Maydm provides girls and youth of color in grades 6 -12 with the skills, experiences, and connections to pursue careers in and change the face of STEM.
Christina brings a background in corporate IT, nonprofit leadership, program development, project management, and higher education to her role at Maydm. Her mission is to get more girls, minorities and low-income youth interested in computing careers. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Information Systems from DePaul University and a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Chicago, along with 12 years of IT corporate experience and 13 years of academic teaching and research experience. Christina was an Associate Professor of Information Technology at UW-Whitewater and nonprofit director prior to joining Maydm.
Outside of work, Christina is a married mom of four and a chronic overachiever who is constantly juggling multiple priorities. Christina has been a Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2002, ITIL Foundations certified since 2004, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) since 2014, and Certified Scrum Product Owner since 2019. She is President of the Sun Prairie Police Commission, board member for Wisconsin Literacy, board member for Ghana Code Club, past board member for Collaboration for Good, 2023 YWCA Madison Woman of Distinction, 2023 Juneteenth Unsung Hero, a 2022 Madison 365 Wisconsin Most Influential Black Leader, 2019 Madison Magnet Impact Award finalist, 2018 UW-Whitewater College of Business and Economic Service Award recipient, 2017 Brava Woman to Watch, and 2013 UW System Outstanding Woman of Color in Education. She has been quoted in The Capital Times, Madison 365, and Wisconsin State Journal.
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NAME: Rebecca Dixon
ORGANIZATION: The GameHERS
We are a community of women gamers, for women gamers. the*gamehers is the first and largest media platform and social networking community of women and femme-identifying gamers. We connect brands to our network of gamers, influencers, channels and events to reach millions of female gamers and fans each month.
Rebecca Dixon, CEO and co-founder of the*gamehers, is an expert connector and community builder. A serial entrepreneur with a past exit and with family ownership in the WNBA and pro esports, Rebecca is passionate about crushing boundaries for women in gaming.
Rebecca has a BS in mathematics and music from Vanderbilt University and sits on the board of the Vanderbilt Cancer Center. She is an alumni from CBS, Turner, Dentsu, Tampa Bay Wave, Renegade Accelerator, Stadia, and more. The*gamehers is the largest community for women in gaming in the world, and powers immersive, social and personalized experiences through gaming and media.
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Name: Hilary Stohs-Krause
ORGANIZATION: Women in Tech Madison
Madison Women in Tech is a supportive, inclusive community that empowers and elevates women and nonbinary folks in the Madison, WI tech scene.
Hilary Stohs-Krause is a senior software engineer at cybersecurity company Red Canary. She's passionate about the intersection of tech, entrepreneurship and social good. In addition to being an organizer for Madison Women in Tech, she's on the board for the Forward Festival and the Social Good Accelerator. She loves sci-fi/fantasy novels, cats and plants.
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NAME: Jennifer Corbett, Chief Marketing Officer at Midwest Games
ORGANIZATION: Midwest Games
MIDWEST GAMES
Based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Midwest Games is a video game publisher focused on creating opportunities for the abundant talent across the Midwest and other underrepresented regions. Led by industry veterans and entertainment enthusiasts, Midwest Games believes that great games can come from anywhere. For more information, please visit www.midwestgames.com. To follow us on our socials, visit us on LinkedIn, @midwestgames_co on Instagram, @midwestgamesco on Twitter, on Discord, and @midwest_games on YouTube.
JEN CORBETT
An expert in audience development, Jen leads marketing to help our games succeed. She has been a Vice President for Sony and Discovery focused on building fan communities and launching entertainment titles. At Crunchyroll, Jen directed campaigns for top anime titles, blockbuster films and Crunchyroll Games and led the Anime Awards. Jen is based in Madison, WI.
Stay tuned to hear about our amazing panelists!
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