GamesBeat’s Dean Takahashi spoke to the newly-appointed International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Executive Director Renee Gittins and IGDA Foundation (IGDAF) Executive Director Nika Nour to discuss their appointments to their positions, how they plan on carrying out the IGDA’s mission of representing the needs of the developer community, and the IGDAF’s objective of empowering the next generation of diverse talent. Nour in particular spoke about how important diversity inclusion is to her:

I’m a child of immigrants. I’m a woman who absolutely loves games. I grew up in a household where I wasn’t even allowed to play video games. Anybody who knows me personally knows that I eat, breathe, and sleep on the topic of diversity inclusion, and not just for games but for the tech industry at large. I think it’s really critical to highlight the positive achievements related to games and remove any obstacles that prevent underserved people and communities from gaining access to the industry.

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Read the full interview on GamesBeat. For more information, please visit the IGDA website and IGDA Foundation website or follow the IGDA TwitterIGDA Executive Director TwitterIGDA Foundation TwitterIGDA Facebook and IGDA Foundation Facebook.