In the light of the events surrounding Black Lives Matter, many companies were self-assessing and realizing a lack of diversity in their staffing and perspectives. As a result, companies are asking Black people, Indigenous people, and Persons of Colour to reach out to them regarding job opportunities, submitting portfolios, and other actions.
Change requires diligently seeking diversity, by actively searching and reaching out to talent. Change requires effectively supporting, advocating, and listening to BIPOC and their needs.
"Where do we find Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour with the skills we require?"
There are many online resources that are active and thriving. We've compiled a list of communities and events below.
COMMUNITIES
Black Game Devs
A list of Black game developers, able to be filtered in alphabetical order by skills and country.
Black Girls CODE
A community devoted to providing African-American youth with the skills for computing jobs across the U.S., and reaches out to the community through workshops and after-school programs.
Code Coven
A network that provides marginalized developers with the skills and confidence needed to thrive in the games industry. They offer courses, mentorship, portfolio development, and programming.
Indigenous Futures
Initiative for Indigenous Futures is a partnership of universities and community organizations that encourages and enables artists, academics, youth and elders through four major components: workshops, residencies, symposia, and archive. IIF teaches workshops about experimental digital media such as video games, 3D printing and machinima workshops while encouraging Aboriginal storytelling.
ImagineNATIVE
ImagineNATIVE is the world's largest presenter of Indigenous screen content. They are a hub for professional development, job opportunities, discussion panels, industry discussions, and post Festival playlists featuring a wide range of film, VR, audio, and video game content. The imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival is held annually in Toronto in October.
POC in Play
POC in Play is an independent organization that creates a range of initiatives and programmes of events, all designed to increase the visibility and representation of People of Color in the video games industry.
Indigenous Game Devs
A network for supporting Indigenous game developers, which provides information about opportunities, sharing resources to enhance development, and highlights Indigenous-made games. The site is maintained by Elizabeth LaPensée, who was featured in a Vice.com article in 2017, discussing the desire to create space for Indigenous stories in video games. She also talks about her video game she created called Thunderbird Strike.
RESOURCES
IDGA Resources for Supporting Black Lives and Game Devs
A comprehensive list of resources, including calls for mentorship, tips to build an inclusive workplace, organizations to donate to, writing inclusive job descriptions, resources on becoming an anti-racist ally, and more.
Games Created by Black Developers
A growing list of games created by Black developers.
#DrawingWhileBlack Artists
A directory of Black artists that can be filtered for specific areas including (but not limited to) book illustration, character design, storyboards, product design, and more.
EVENTS
The Black Game Pros Mixer
This past Black History Month, Ubisoft Toronto hosted the 2nd Black Game Pros Mixer, an event which brings together Black talent and professionals from local video game, tech, film, and TV industries.
Game Developers of Color Expo
An inclusive games expo and conference creating a new normal in games. The virtual event will be taking place this year on September 19th, and are currently accepting persons of color to be industry speakers or show off their games.
Game & Color
Game & Color held their first social meetup for game developers of color this past February in Montreal at the KO_OP/Kitfix Games studio. There is also a Google form link on the Eventbrite page to fill out to be notified of the next Game & Color event.
The Indigenous Film Summit
Created by the Indigenous Filmmakers Association, the Indigenous Film Summit is an event held in Manitoba and is aimed at emerging and professional indigenous directors, writers and producers, while providing attendees with an understanding of funding opportunities, documentary and feature film production, and excellent networking opportunities with industry professionals.
This is just a small list, and there are bound to be many more. But the work doesn't stop here. Read up and listen to where BIPOC creators congregate to network and meet. We've included a handful of social media hashtags where communities form:
#Blackgamedevs
#IndigenousGameDevs
#POCGameDevs
#DrawingWhileBlack
#BlackGirlGamers
#BGGOnlineSummit
#IndigenousGames
#Imaginenative
#IndigenousCinema
#BlackVoiceActors
#BlackGirlsCode
#BlackTechTwitter
