As an Internal Mobility Program Manager within the games and technology industry, Madina strives to innovate internal mobility hiring practices and address game-changing challenges including diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI).

With many years of impactful change leadership for global game publisher Ubisoft, she was graciously recognized by her peers as the 2017 Employee of the Year and is known for her inclusive hiring practices within the organization. In 2020, she founded the first ERG of the Ubisoft Montreal Black Employee Association. As a passionate advocate, she works to create more supportive community networks by addressing issues, facilitating discussions, and solving challenges in the workplace through internal and external Black communities. In addition to her leadership within ERG, she is an active advocate for new applicants and current team members, ensuring that all staff members, regardless of gender, race, and/or sexual orientation, feel safe and are always provided with appropriate opportunities.

Persistent in fostering environments of belonging and promoting inclusion in the workplace, she leads with her charismatic personality and extensive professional experience. She remains interested in creating positive and impactful experiences through diverse hiring processes, organizational resource groups, and the development of corporate social responsibility plans for the organizations she works with.

Founder of the Pigeon Mayonnaise studio, Andréanne has been creating audiovisual experiences for nearly 8 years. Passionate, creative and endowed with a boundless imagination, she has actively participated as a 3D artist in the development of several AAA projects at Beenox/Activision and AR at Miralupa. After a few years of teaching 2D/3D animation, programming and VFX, she realized that her true calling was to found an inclusive and safe video game studio. A healthy and collaborative environment to share her artistic strength and create games with a team whose differences will make them strong.

Co-founder of the Awastoki studio in Wendake, Alexis is passionate about digital art and entrepreneurship. After spending a decade in the video game industry in Quebec City, Awastoki is the answer to everything he needed to grow in his profession. His team offers 3D creation services to all kinds of clients, from video game studios to board game designers to industrial machinery companies. Determined to leave his mark by changing the industry, Alexis is also involved in First Nations entrepreneurship and training in the technological fields in First Nations communities. In the long term, he would also like to use his knowledge in the technological field for heritage preservation and to give back to his community and who knows, maybe give a taste of this field to other young First Nation people.

Fatima began her academic journey in 2014 at the University of Ottawa. In 2018, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. Honours in Psychology. She then continued her studies by undertaking a PhD in Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Montreal, which she completed in 2022. Her essay is a review of the literature on discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the workplace. Throughout her studies, Fatima held various positions at a banking institution. Since 2015, she has held the position of Customer Experience Associate, then Financial Services Representative, and finally Customer Experience Manager. Since 2021, she has held the position of Inclusion and Diversity Advisor at National Bank.

Danny has been working at Electronic Arts as Legal Counsel since 2018 where he supports the Montreal studio’s production teams, motion capture teams in Vancouver and LA, and human resources in Canada. At EA, Danny is also a lead for two of the Montreal studio’s employee resource groups, ASPIRE (Asian and Pacific Islanders Represent) and PRIDE (LGBTQ+). Danny has also worked as Legal Counsel at ADP Canada (2016-2018) and SNC-Lavalin (2011-2016). While at SNC-Lavalin, Danny rewrote the company’s Code of Conduct in 2012 and worked on several ethics and compliance files. Danny is also a member of the Board of Directors of Montreal Dance (where he serves as President) and the Medicalert Canada Foundation (where he also serves on the Human Resources and Fundraising Committees). Danny is fluent in French and English, and also has a good knowledge of Spanish, Portuguese, Cantonese and Mandarin. In the summer, you can often find Danny on his bike pretending to be in Mario Kart by throwing imaginary shells at people occupying the entire bike path.

Frederic McNamara is the founder of Shishi Studios, a studio that develops accessible games. Living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease affecting the muscles, he faces new challenges related to this condition every day.
Accessibility is therefore very important to him, not only in everyday life, but also in video games, where he can sometimes find it difficult to play them if they are not accessible enough. Frédéric is also very involved with Muscular Dystrophy Canada, for which he has been contributing for over ten years.

Originally from Colombia, South America, Angela holds an MBA from HEC Montreal and 15 years of experience in small business management. Since incorporating Clever Plays in 2013, Angela has served as studio director, using her strengths in business development, financial management and marketing leadership to help the studio succeed. In 2018, Angela became the first woman to be elected to the Board of Directors of La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec, a non-profit organization of independent and international video game developers. At La Guilde, Angela has become very influential on the topic of diversity and inclusion and has participated in several panels and conferences internationally, including Singapore, Peru, Brazil and Australia. In 2022, Angela founded Indie Angels with the goal of helping independent developers self-publish their games. At Indie Angels, Angela is the principal. She is the project manager and responsible for the deployment and development of the Indie Angels client’s marketing campaigns.