PoC Scholars

With support from our incredible sponsors in 2022 and 2023 (see below), we are proud to have supported these POC Scholars Emeritus. We thank the members of the former POC Programming team for all of their amazing work, and have preserved their listings here as well.

The POC Programming track is now part of our Big Bad Con Scholarship program! Read all about it here on our blog.

Team Members

image of

Ajit A. George he/him

Ajit George is Director of Operations for the international non-profit the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. He has spoken at numerous events including TEDx, the International Monetary Fund, and NPR on the topics of education, gender equality, community development, and poverty alleviation. He is featured in the original Netflix Documentary Series, Daughters of Destiny. In the field of games, he graduated from Clarion West and has written for a variety of indie companies including Bully Pulpit, Thorny Games, and Monte Cook Games, has organized international collaborative larp events, is a diversity consultant, speaker, and activist. He has most recently written for D&D's Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and is the creator, project lead, and writer for Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel. He is a Big Bad Morgan Ellis and Diana Jones Award winner.

image of

Anthony Joyce-Rivera he/him

Anthony Joyce-Rivera is a Hispanic, two-time ENnie-nominated game designer, entertainment and gaming military consultant, and an active-duty U.S. Army Strategist. He’s self-published many adventures on the Dungeon Masters Guild and freelances for Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, MCDM, Ghostfire Gaming, and other prominent companies. You can find Anthony on Twitter at @AJoyce_Rivera or at https://anthonydreams.com.

image of

Carlos Luna he/him

Carlos is a creative director, brand strategist, and producer. He has created content for Roll20, D&D: Behind the Scenes, and Pathfinder. He's featured on Rivals of Waterdeep, The Dungeon Rats, Victorian Halls, and more.

image of

Indrani Ganguly she/they

Indrani is a community builder, dicemaker, and marketer from Mumbai, India. She co-founded Desis & Dragons, India’s largest TTRPG community. She is also the founder of Nonagon Dice, India’s first handmade TTRPG accessories business. She is incredibly passionate about bringing the fledgling Indian TTRPG space into the larger industry through equitable opportunities, and is one of the members of this year’s Big Bad Con PoC Leadership Team. Indrani has been working as a digital marketing generalist in various industries for over 4 years… when she isn’t busy making handmade dice. Her goal is to work full-time within the games industry!

image of

Justice Ramin Arman he/him

Justice Ramin Arman is a Senior Game Designer on the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards of the Coast. Prior to that, Justice worked as a Producer and Game Designer at Beadle & Grimm’s, as well as a freelance game designer for companies like Critical Role, 2C Gaming, and MCDM Productions. In his spare time, Justice enjoys cooking delicious Iranian food and playing lots of D&D with his wife, Samantha.

image of

Mario Ortegón he/him

Mario Ortegón (he/him) is a former UX Design Lead who now works full-time as a freelance game designer, writer, and consultant in the tabletop games industry. His body of work includes "Hunter: The Reckoning 5th Edition", "Journeys through the Radian't Citadel", "Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen", and multiple other products for Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, MCDM Productions, Beadle & Grimm's, and more. He grew up in a small town just south of the eastern Mexico-US border and currently resides in the very dry city of Monterrey, Mexico.

image of

Pam Punzalan she/they

Pam Punzalan is a queer Filipino designer whose personal work explores themes of intimacy, rebellion, loss, reclamation, and the many different shades of violence. Beyond design, she is an editor, sensitivity & cultural consultant, and advocate for RPGSEA (Roleplaying Games Southeast Asia). Participating in the building of multiple, diverse tables for the tabletop game industry is a deeply important engagement for her, and she has had the pleasure of being part of the organizing teams of Play Without Apology, a queer-centric collective in the Phiilppines, and Session Zero Online, an RPGSEA-centric convention for Southeast Asian game designers and enthusiasts. She has written for Evil Hat, Paizo, Wizards of the Coast, and Renegade Games Studio.

image of

Sean Nittner he/him

Sean’s passion is bringing people together to play games, share experiences, explore identity, build rapport, and learn. He is working with the POC programming team to handle convention logistics.

image of

Surena Marie she/they

Surena has worked professionally within the TTRPG space since 2018, managing social media, community, marketing, performing, and more. She works to nimbly navigate the professional side of the industry with her love of performance and storytelling. Surena currently serves as the Head of Marketing & Communications for Quest Portal. Catch her writing in the D&D book, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, or in actual plays Rival of Waterdeep (S1-6), Dimension 20 (A Court of Fey and Flowers), and The Dungeon Run.

image of

Whitney Beltrán she/her

Whitney Beltrán is an award winning narrative designer and writer. Co-author of Bluebeard's Bride with many other credits in tabletop RPGs including Dungeons & Dragons. In video games she's worked on State of Decay 2, Raccoon Lagoon, Beyond Blue and HoloVista. Currently she is Project Narrative Director on a AAA Dungeons & Dragons video game title at Hidden Path Entertainment.

Scholar Emeritus

image of

Aaron Lim he/him

Aaron Lim is a designer of tabletop games based in Malaysia. His work ranges from board and card games to story games and tabletop RPGs. He's also very passionate about playtesting games and has helped run multiple playtesting meetups such as Incubator Melbourne and Playtest Zero.

image of

Adrián Mejía he/him

Adrián was born and raised in Quito, Ecuador - the city that he loves and hates. He wants to see more latines in speculative fiction and games as both characters and players, and to tell stories he doesn't see elsewhere.

image of

Alika Gupta she/her

Alika Gupta is an illustrator and graphic designer based out of Mumbai, India. An avid ttrpg enthusiast and cat lover (not necessarily in that order), she has run DnD games for over 5 years, played for more and is always interested in trying out new systems and tools for storytelling. She has published DnD 5e adventures on DMsGuild and has illustrated for TTRPG projects like Unbreakable: Revolution.

image of

Allegro they/any

Allegro is a queer mixed Black-Hawaiian-Chinese content creator, performer, and table-top lover based in California. They studied to be an environmental science, with an emphasis on environmental justice and resource management in coastal communities, and theater. Now you can often find them streaming on Twitch by moonlight and working in multi-media science communications by daylight--all while singing the latest song stuck in their head.

Allegro recently debuted on the TTRPG Actual Play scene as a performer in The Stone & Starlight Carnival: a Under Hollow Hills story and Lodged, a supernatural horror mini-series in Monster of the Week. They hope to continue performing and working on projects that are diverse, inclusive, accessible, and magical.

image of

Anjali Bhimani she/her

Anjali Bhimani is an award-winning actress who can currently be seen as Ruby in Ms. Marvel on Disney+ and is also well known in the gaming community as Rampart in Apex Legends, Symmetra in Overwatch, the noble Fy’ra Rai on Exandria Unlimited and the proud and feisty Miriam on UnDeadwood, both by Critical Role Studios, as well as many more games and other TTRPG performances.

She is the creator of the I Am Fun Size series on YouTube and author of I Am Fun Size, and So Are You (to be released in Fall 2022) created to help people find the fullest lives they can through life’s challenges.

Find her on the interwebs at @sweeetanj on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, and at Anjali Bhimani on Facebook. You can also find her walking her adorable dog, Charley (@charleythebestdog on IG) in her rollers on the streets of Los Angeles

image of

Armaan Babu he/him

Armaan is obsessed with the way stories are told - the styles with which they unfold, and the mechanics that somehow come together to create truly memorable moments. An online critic and now fledgling game designer, is eager to find new mechanisms and tools to give to people to help them discover all new stories through play, chaos and creativity.

image of

Austin Taylor he/they/she

Austin is a professional TTRPG performer, podcaster, and award winning analog game & creative narrative designer. When not up to one of these many things they most likely are watching King of the Hill, playing with their baby, or baking with their partner. Their most recent work as a writer has been on Deimos Academy, Arcon, and Brinkwood; as a performer they can be found on Mind and the Martyr, Transplanar, and too many one shots to count.

image of

Banana is a Cantonese Canadian game designer, writer and publisher living in the US. They are the owner of a small board game and RPG publishing company called Game and a Curry. Her latest work has been on Deimos Academy, Suburban Consumption of the Monstrous, Exquisite Crime, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft and Betrayal at House on the Hill: 3rd Edition. They hate Mondays and love lasagna.

image of

Basil Wright he/they/xe

Basil Wright is a Black and Seminole TTRPG designer, writer, and sensitivity consultant from Florida. They enjoy exploring the psychology of the other, and drawing the magical from the mundane. His game design philosophy is to create games with the lowest barrier of entry, so everyone can enjoy!

image of

Bianca Bickford she/her

Bianca Bickford is a Hispanic geek and Marketing Manager for Roll20. She creates bestselling D&D 5E adventures and supplements for DMs Guild, Wizards of the Coast, MCDM, Ghostfire Gaming, and more.

image of

momatoes she/her

momatoes

momatoes—known in real life as Bianca Canoza—is a Diana Jones finalist, Diana Jones emerging designer winner, tabletop game and visual designer from the explosive Southeast Asian RPG scene. She counts her 7+ years experience working with NGOs and development organizations as one of her proudest milestones; her second milestone as petting capybaras in Nagasaki Biopark.

image of

Brandon O'Brien he/they

Brandon O’Brien is a writer, performance poet, and game designer from Trinidad and Tobago. His debut poetry collection, Can You Sign My Tentacle?, available from Interstellar Flight Press, is the winner of the 2022 SFPA Elgin Award. He has also written tie-in fiction for brands such as Pathfinder, Magic: The Gathering, and Blue Rose RPG, and has contributed game content to games such as Wanderhome and The House Doesn't Always Win. He is also a co-host of the actual-play podcast Speculate!

image of

Carlos Cisco he/him

Carlos Cisco is a television writer and narrative designer, most recently having written on seasons 4 and 5 of Star Trek: Discovery. His most recent TTRPG design work appears in MCDMs Arcadia and Modiphius’ Star Trek: Discovery campaign sourcebook. His work can also be found on the DMs guild and in the #iHunt 80s zine. Working in both television and TTRPG design, his ultimate hope is to bridge those two gaps and be a part of adapting table top games for television and film while continuing to develop and hone his craft and build out his network when it comes to game design.

image of

Chirag Asnani he/him

Chirag Asnani is a writer and streamer based out of Mumbai, India. He co-founded Desis and Dragons India’s largest TTRPG community. When he's not streaming TTRPGs and creating videos, he works as a screenwriter and adventure writer, recently writing for Adventures in Jalmeray, a PF2E Desi adventure, published by The Galant Goblin.

image of

Collette Quach they/she

Collette is a Chinese-Cambodian narrative designer based in California. They’ve worked on projects such as: Pathfinder Lost Omens: Tian Xia, QUEERZ! RPG, and the Uncaged Anthology. They create interactive work in order to discuss difficult topics and help us understand what it means to be human. They also have a passion for diversity and inclusion both at an industry and design level, advocating for work that highlights non-European/Western stories and experiences. They have a MFA in Interactive Media and Game Design from USC where they studied narrative choice and agency within games.

image of

Cris Viana she/her

Cris Viana is a graphic designer, based in Bahia - Brazil. She is experienced in many areas of Graphic Design, but today dedicates herself to Book Design. She has been in love with TTRPGs since high school, and now she works with it, doing layouts for TTRPG books and board games for publishers in Brazil and abroad!

You can see some of her work in the newest brazilian edition of Castle Falkenstein (RetroPunk/R. Talsorian), Witcher TTRPG - Book of Tales and Tome of Chaos supplements (R. Talsorian), and the second Edition of Improv for Gamers (Evil Hat).

image of

Dan Muñoz he/him

I’m a Latino content creator, & CEO of Nat1Fun as well as Creative Director at Gehanna Gaming. I’ve been an Avid TTRPG enthusiast for 20 years and am currently the Dungeon Master for Winter’s End, a Rime of The Frostmaiden Actual Play as well as Running Fey Wild a Wild Beyond the Witchlight Campaign. I am a professional streamer with over 10 years experience and a professional voice actor. I do freelance work doing stream overlays, intro, animations and more. I’m a disabled United States Air Force Veteran and was the former president of the San Antonio Chapter of the Extra-Life Foundation charity for children’s hospitals. A Part time artist, full time entertainer, streamer and father to three wild children.

image of

Dani Gage she/her

Dani is a mixed-Korean content creator, TTRPG performer, and cosplayer based out of the Los Angeles area. With a strength for immersive prop building and whimsical ideas, Dani loves to incorporate cosplay and physical puzzles into her games. She most enjoys trying out different TTRPG systems and making new friends! Her most recent actual play appearances have been as: Celestian on the Doctor Who-Many Hearts Project, Evelyn Wang on HyperRPG's Everyone is Michelle Yeoh, and Minnie aka "MinMax" on gm_dax's Glitterhearts charity one shot.

image of

Daniel Delgado he/him

Daniel Delgado (he/him) is a Quechua and Jewish writer, TTRPG designer, and sensitivity reviewer. He is a designer on the forthcoming Koboa campaign setting for D&D 5e, Tales of the Valiant, and Pathfinder 2e.

His fiction has appeared in publications including Cossmass Infinities, Lamplight Magazine, and Whigmaleeries and Wives’ Tales. His nonfiction has appeared in publications including Earth First! Journal, Writers Journal, and The Sacred Earth: Jewish Perspectives on Our Planet. He is a former editor of Earth First! Journal. When he’s not at a desk, you might find him growing Native crops in his family’s backyard farm, or out exploring the desert.

image of

Danny Quach he/him

Danny is a first generation Chinese/Vietnamese community builder, social media strategist, digital marketing professional, and TTRPG creator currently residing in sunny Florida. He’s the Community Manager for biggest virtual table top, Roll20, and the Community Director for the internationally celebrated Free RPG Day. Along with being a professional player and performer among various long term streams and charity one-shots, his most recent body of work includes: “this world is not yours: an RPG zine” (writer, TTRPG — published by Press Pot Games) “Tome of Beasts III” (guest designer, TTRPG — published by Kobold Press), “Keystone: North America” (Marketing, board game — published by Rose Gauntlet Entertainment) and “Himbo Harem Homicide” (writer, video game — published by Mouse Potato Games). When he’s not being spreading the joys of TTRPG’s and hyping up LGBTQ+/BIPOC voices on Twitter, Danny can be found lifting heavy things, eating tasty things, playing board games, or hanging out with his corgi Bowser Butternubs.

image of

Diana she/her

Diana is a content creator based out of Bend, Oregon. Her open and honest style of content covers a variety of topics, but primarily focuses on making D&D and other TTRPGs more accessible to marginalized groups (particularly low-income and Latine communities) by spreading news of free resources and DIY gaming materials, sharing easy worldbuilding ideas, and providing queer Latine representation in nerdy spaces. Her goal is to lower barriers to gaming and show that anyone at all can use TTRPGs to engage with friends and discover themselves.

image of

Drakoniques he/they

Drakoniques (or Drak for short) is a Black British nonbinary person who is a professional TTRPG writer, performer, podcaster, producer, and streamer, as well as the Event Coordinator and co-founder of Friends Who Roll Dice. Their passion is helping foster a safe and welcoming space for QTBIPOC in the TTRPG community. Obsessed with tabletop roleplaying games, they have delved into almost every aspect of them. As a writer, his most recent works have been on Deimos Academy and End Times. As an actual play performer, his recent shows include Doctor Who: The Many Hearts Project, Kingmakers, SuperIdolsRPG, From Dusk Till Dark, and KILL SCRN, as well as several guest appearances and one-shots on many other different streams and podcasts.

image of

Erin Roberts she/her

Erin Roberts (she/her) is an Austin-based writer of prose, interactive fiction, and TTRPGs who loves imagining new worlds and sharing them with others. Her recent work includes writing the adventure "Written In Blood" (and its location, Godsbreath) for the WoTC adventurebook Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, creating sinister antagonists and organizations for the sourcebook Hunter the Reckoning: Fifth Edition, contributing to several books in Pathfinder's Lost Omens line, and creating NaughtyBits, the 'sex madlibs meets the AI-pocalypse' work of interactive fiction the world didn't know it needed.

image of

Ethan Yen he/him

Ethan Yen is a tabletop game designer, writer, and editor from Madison, WI. He has written for Ghostfire Gaming, Unbreakable Publishers, and Indie Games Cooperative, and has served as a project manager/creative director for the Border Kingdoms at Gamehole Con. His most recent creation is the solo journaling RPG Fetch My Blade. In addition to games, Ethan designs water resource recovery facilities, uplifting worlds both real and imaginary.

image of

Eugenio Vargas he/him

DM Jazzy Hands

Eugenio Vargas (he/him) is a TTRPG writer and designer who has worked with Wizards of the Coast (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons), MCDM Productions (Flee, Mortals!), Darrington Press (project TBA), and others. He’s also a streamer and podcaster, with appearances including GM of Into the Mother Lands, DM of The Last Refuge: A D&D Podcast and the upcoming Broadway Does D&D podcast, and both player and DM on Rivals of Waterdeep. On his personal Twitch channel, he currently spends his time playing whatever game strikes his fancy until the next big BioWare game is released.

image of

Gani Riel Cabezas he/they

Gani Riel Cabezas is a sci-fi/fantasy illustrator and comic book artist from the Philippines, where he began telling stories about queer kids and the gods who raised them. He has worked with Gubat Banwa, Tales From Sina Una, Diwata Komiks, Kumu, and Kahel Press. His comics “Sol Dalusung” and “Arrows To Their Heaven” were original series under the Filipino komiks platform Penlab, and he now freelances independently with the creator collective Kalabaw Studios. He is currently finishing an archaeology degree in Canada in the hopes of studying Southeast Asian heritage.

image of

Gio Manning he/they

Hello i'm Gio, I'm a Filipino Canadian videogame dev QA by day and concept artist/illustrator by night! I specialize in hardsurface mechanical illustrations. My past work includes illustrations on Cyberpunk Red, Iron Widow, Maharlika RPG, and Into the Motherlands. I'm a big fan of mecha and love to share that energy through my art.

image of

Gordon McAlpin he/him

Gordon McAlpin is a Filipino-American writer, graphic designer, illustrator, and animator. His past work includes the animated web series Multiplex 10 and the DMs Guild titles Death by Goblins!, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, and The High Magic Sourcebook.

image of

Indrani Ganguly she/they

Indrani is a community builder, dicemaker, and marketer from Mumbai, India. She co-founded Desis & Dragons, India’s largest TTRPG community. She is also the founder of Nonagon Dice, India’s first handmade TTRPG accessories business. She is incredibly passionate about bringing the fledgling Indian TTRPG space into the larger industry through equitable opportunities, and is one of the members of this year’s Big Bad Con PoC Leadership Team. Indrani has been working as a digital marketing generalist in various industries for over 4 years… when she isn’t busy making handmade dice. Her goal is to work full-time within the games industry!

image of

Jabari Weathers they/them

Jabari Weathers is a Baltimore based illustrator, writer and game designer focused primarily on tabletop roleplaying and analogue games. You may have seen their imagery in Dungeons and Dragons 5e, the Bluebeard's Bride tarot of servants and many other indie roleplaying releases, and you may have read their words in Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Betrayal at House on the Hill 3e and many other indie releases. In their spare time they like to DJ for the humans, as it helps them blend into this mortal world from the seeking eyes beyond the veil.

image of

Jaime Reyes-Mondragón he/him

Jaime Reyes-Mondragón (He/Him) is a Mexican game designer and creative writer focused on TTRPGs and board games. He has been working for the past three years in indie publishing as part of Axo Stories, a small co-op that strives to see the art, ideas, and culture of more Latinos represented in the industry. In his free time, he enjoys reading fantasy, sci-fi, and crime novels, as well as drawing.

image of

Jaqueline Florencio (she/her) is a freelance illustrator who loves creating fantasy and art nouveau inspired illustrations. Her work has been featured in Urban Shadows 2nd Edition and The Price of Coal: A Story Game of Labor Rights. She lives in Brazil with her three cats, and enjoys reading and playing video-games in her spare time.

image of

Jasper William Cartwright he/him

Jasper William Cartwright is Co-Host & Producer of Three Black Halflings which started over 2 years ago and has had some of the best guests from around the TTRPG & nerd space & has gone from strength to strength! Also, as an actor appears in several video games and an upcoming animated feature film.

image of

Javier P. Beltrán he/him

Illustrator and Graphic Designer working in the tabletop industry. Likes games with big feels, player chaos, beautiful art. Currently working at Monte Cook Games.

image of

Jeramiah Winston he/they

I'm a proud Black Illustrator and Graphic Designer, born and raised in Inglewood, CA. I love creating fantasy illustrations, character art, and portraits! I hope to use my art to increase POC representation in media. Aside from making art, I love hip-hop, board games, creative writing, trading card games, and being an enemy of gentrification everywhere.

image of

Jonathan Perez Galvan he/him

My name is Jonathan Perez Galvan, previously a Regional Talent Acquisition Manager, but now I’m your representative for LatinosAgainstSpookyShit. I’m currently based on the West coast in Nevada, but I was born in Ensenada, Mexico, and raised in Bellevue, WA. I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember but I’ve only been in the TTRPG space for the last 15 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been a part of various actual play campaigns that are currently hosted online, while still finding spaces at peoples tables to continue telling amazing and intricate stories. My goal within the TTRPG community is to give a voice to those who may have felt they didn’t have one; to allow stories to be told that couldn’t be told by anyone else before due to misrepresentation or total lack thereof. I want to create stories allowing people to connect with their roots and their heritage. Whether it’s personal identity or cultural identity, I look forward to sculpting worlds that allow people the safety and comfort to explore both. As a gamer, both in digital or pen-and-paper, I enjoy the art of storytelling and character design and development. I stream RPG games to my community so that we can experience carefully crafted story arcs together, some for the first time. I look forward to growing in this space and working with many other creators to keep bringing our communities the best and safest experiences possible.

image of

Josh Mangle they/he

Josh is a TTRPG and Speculative Fiction writer, a PhD student in medieval literature, and an avid Final Fantasy fan. They are currently working on their dissertation about queer knights in Arthurian literature. In their spare time, they can be found playing TTRPGs with their partner and friends, obsessing over their two cats (Artemis and Merlin), and trying – but failing – to get through their massive to-read pile. They have appeared on actual play podcast Proficiency +6 as the voice of Hrolf Sea-Spear, and is currently working on a podcast about LGBT storytellers in the gaming industry as well as a top-down Arthurian-inspired TTRPG. Their ultimate goal is to create fantasy and science fiction gamesand stories that showcase diverse, queer worlds.

image of

Kandi J. Williams she/her

Kandi (she/her) is a TTRPG designer and writer. She is working on Confluence RPG with Cosmic Mirror Games as a setting writer and also worked with Hit Point Press on a project not yet released. She also self publishes games on Itch.io and enjoys writing comics and novels (soon). By day she is a software developer. Kandi is also the executive producer (community manager, social media marketer, and graphic designer) and GM for the Dicey Amazons Twitch channel. They stream TTRPGs, video and board games, and nerdy talk shows.

image of

Kelly M Tran she/her

Kelly M Tran is a game designer and writer. When not designing or playing games she enjoys travel, food, the outdoors, and meeting people’s pets. She finds great joy in recommending new favorite games to friends and strangers alike.

image of

LaTia Jacquise she/her

LaTia Jacquise is one of the Community Managers for D&D at Wizards of the Coast. Prior to that, she was the Community Relations Coordinator at Monte Cook Games and an admin for D&D's Adventurers League, and has contributed to Wizards of the Coast, D&D Beyond, and DMs Guild as a freelance writer. She is also a member of TakeThis.org's Community Review Board. As a streamer, she's appeared on many actual plays and one-shots, most notably as cast and several-time Dungeon Master for Rivals of Waterdeep. When not involved in TTRPG related activities, she enjoys growing her own food, cooking what she grows, amassing a hoard of stationery she'll never use, and acting as guardian to her feybeast of a dog.

image of

Lexi McQueen she/any

Lexi (AKA @blackgirlmage) is a powerhouse Game Master, performer, streamer, musician, coder, writer, and lover of all things Tabletop. She loves worldbuilding, screenwriting, analyzing story, creating and playing in Actual Plays, and bringing energy and joy to any project she picks up. All she wants is to play and run games, see her scripts on a silver screen, become a pirate, and teach her dog how to roll a D20.

image of

Liam Stevens he/him/Ia

Liam is a Māori creator, cultural consultant, and Chair of KiwiRPG. He is based in Aotearoa/New Zealand with whakapapa to Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa. Liam hosts Toa Tabletop, formerly Mud and Blood, a long running RPG Podcast and in recent years has expanded into Adventure & Game design, sensitivity reading, and cultural consultation. He has a few writing credits, but is most proud of his involvement with Dissident Whispers, the upcoming Hull Breach as well as his own project, a murder mystery zine called Line of Enquiry.

image of

Layla Bahmanziari zhe/they

Layla Bahmanziari (zhe/zer/they/them) is a TTRPG designer, performer, and producer with a background in professional theatre (The Goodman, Milwaukee Rep, First Floor Theater) and writing (The Flashpaper, Reader’s Digest). Layla’s philosophies toward art focus on authenticity, wonder, and people-first action. Zhe fell in love with TTRPGs and game design for many reasons, but above all: Layla believes the ability to live is rooted in our ability to play. As an extension of that, zhe wants to explore human connection to oneself, others, and life through game design. They are currently working on three game design projects and their own production channel.

image of

Logan Michael Boese he/him

I like to think of myself as a storyteller. I’m descended from the Apsáalooke tribe, and I have the simple belief that Stories are important. They keep the wisdom of the past, and they impart it to those in the future. (Also they’re really fun!) People will go to amazing lengths for a good story! Storytellers are a cultural cornerstone, and I just want to do my part in keeping those traditions going as best as I can.

image of

Lucia Versprille she/her

Lucia Versprille is a TTRPG content author, the creator of her company Seersword and the project Sina Una. Lucia likes to do everything, but loves most to assemble and lead a creative project team. Her hope is to introduce people to new perspectives in gaming by way of supporting the community, making art, and sharing stories!

image of

Luis Loza he/him

Luis Loza is a Senior Developer at Paizo Inc. working on the Lost Omens line of setting books. He's been playing tabletop RPGs for almost twenty years and has experience with dozens of different RPGs and storytelling games. His credits include work for Paizo, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games as well as work on Ennie award-winning products with Kobold Press and Petersen Games. Luis is pushing to make games a more welcoming space for everyone and is always excited to work with new and diverse voices in the RPG industry. He lives in Seattle.

image of

Lyla McBeath Fujiwara she/her

Lyla McBeath Fujiwara is a Massachusetts-based TTRPG writer, game designer, and project lead. She's had many past lives, from teaching high schoolers in East Africa to eight years in tech, where she worked as a developer for Google News and created mobile programming online courses that taught hundreds of thousands of students. Her TTRPG work includes Jukebox: The Karaoke Musical Roleplaying Game (Coming October 2023 to Kickstarter), Encounters in the Radiant Citadel (DMsGuild), and Out of Luck (DMsGuild). She’s also a 2023 Storytelling Collective Creative Laureate and author of Project Management for TTRPGs, a Substack series about project management and leadership for newcomers in the TTRPG space. In her off hours she can be found throwing lopsided ceramics and cooking feasts for her cooperative house.

image of

Marcello De Velazquez he/him

Marcello De Velazquez is a Hispanic-Asian, disabled veteran, mental health practitioner, event organizer. social media administrator, DM  and freelance RPG content creator.  He has played Dungeons and Dragons throughout the 80's, 90's and full throttle in in 2K's(?). His credits include community-created and official D&D Adventurer's League adventures, and DungeonCraft, MCDM's ARCADIA Magazine and FLEE MORTALS! He has contributed and collaborated with The Word Refinery. Gamehole Publishing, GaryCon, Ghostfire Gaming, MCDM, Baldman Games and Jeff Stevens Games. He is a big proponent of community mentorship, inclusivity and mental health awareness within TTRPG. You ever had a Runza? He loves them!

image of

Mario Ortegón he/him

Mario Ortegón (he/him) is a former UX Design Lead who now works full-time as a freelance game designer, writer, and consultant in the tabletop games industry. His body of work includes "Hunter: The Reckoning 5th Edition", "Journeys through the Radian't Citadel", "Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen", and multiple other products for Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, MCDM Productions, Beadle & Grimm's, and more. He grew up in a small town just south of the eastern Mexico-US border and currently resides in the very dry city of Monterrey, Mexico.

image of

Markeia McCarty she/they

Markeia McCarty (she/they) is the Marketing Director for the Indy game company Hunters Entertainment (Alice Is Missing, Kids On Bikes) and is also a main cast actor in their long-running Outbreak Undead saga on Twitch, continuing its next season this fall on Pixel Circus. As a professional GM and TTRPG player they’ve created and/or played in numerous horror campaigns across various channels. With the latest being a live Misfits and Magic collaboration (coming soon to Dimension20!) and being an actor in The Day Shift, the Hunter The Reckoning campaign for World of Darkness and Renegade Game Studios.

image of

Mars Dave she/they

Mars Dave discovered ttrpgs at a drama club meeting in middle school and fell in love. They're a game writer, player, and general enthusiast. They're currently a Creative Writing major at Ringling College of Art and Design, and their understanding of stories has only made their love for ttrpgs stronger. They also love cooking, sewing, and learning new fun facts (feel free to share some if you see them).

image of

Matthew Willetto he/him

I am a Navajo illustrator, concept artist, and Game Designer. I am a huge fan of TTRPGS. I enjoy the process of designing creatures, Characters, and environments, to create more immersive games. I studied Illustration and Visual Development at Ringling College of Art and Design.

image of

Michelle Nguyen Bradley she/they

Michelle Nguyen Bradley is a producer, show host, voice actor, and professional TTRPG player, who is passionate about fostering community and equality in the geek space. She's played characters like Kiếm on VtM: New York by Night, Hoa Sen on Critical Role, a butterfly alien on Paizo's Scoured Stars campaign, Betty on the official Rat Queen's RPG at HyperRPG and many more personas through her work on RPG shows. As a producer, she has seen from ideation to creation shows like Twitch Gaming’s The Weekly talk show as a live broadcast line producer, the Manga Book Club for Viz Media as producer, editor, writer and host, and "Button Mash" on the Total Nerd Network as producer and host. Michelle has also done live hosting like MCing Anime Expo's Main Stage, FunimatonCon, brand launches, fashion shows and more and has acted as an event producer for over a decade. Michelle currently appears as a regular cast member for World of Darkness, Demiplane, Idle Champions, Paizo and Hunters Entertainment's weekly TTRPG shows on Twitch. Find her work at michellenguyenbradley.com and on socials at @iamchubbybunny.

image of

Morgan Nuncio they/she

Morgan Nuncio (they/she) is a TTRPG Content Creator, writer, safety consultant, voice actor, and BIPOC Hype Human. Hailing from deep in the heart of Texas, Morgan (or Mo for short!), loves to dive into creative worlds and share stories with others. They are a Caretaker for Huetopia, a streaming platform and community for BIPOC folks in the TTRPG sphere, by BIPOC folks. She also loves hiking, playing with her pup, and food adventures!

image of

Nala J. Wu they/them

Nala is a proud neurodivergent QTPOC Art Director and ENNIE Gold winning Illustrator who works full time in TTRPGs. Past projects include Uncaged Goddesses, Coyote & Crow, and Apocalypse Keys. Besides art, Nala does voice acting, diversity & cultural consultations, and professional TTRPG AP stream performances.

image of

Omar Najam he/him/any

Omar Najam is a writer, director, improviser, ttrpg player and overall huge nerd. Growing up in the bay area, he wanted to take the worlds of fantasy and science fiction and horror that he saw on the big screens and make them accessible to his friends and family. Fast forward a couple decades (and a few years of film school) and that's exactly what he's doing. Omar has hosted shows for the El Rey Network, worked on shows for Star Trek and Marvel, but his home is ttrpgs. Whether it's playing a cat pirate in The Borros Saga: Banesbreak, a literal ghost writer in Power Play or an unseelie prince in Dimension 20's A Court of Fey and Flowers, Omar loves finding that childhood fun in stories and seeing where that takes us. Also he has a cat and knits.

image of

Pam Punzalan she/they

Pam Punzalan is a queer Filipino designer whose personal work explores themes of intimacy, rebellion, loss, reclamation, and the many different shades of violence. Beyond design, she is an editor, sensitivity & cultural consultant, and advocate for RPGSEA (Roleplaying Games Southeast Asia). Participating in the building of multiple, diverse tables for the tabletop game industry is a deeply important engagement for her, and she has had the pleasure of being part of the organizing teams of Play Without Apology, a queer-centric collective in the Phiilppines, and Session Zero Online, an RPGSEA-centric convention for Southeast Asian game designers and enthusiasts. She has written for Evil Hat, Paizo, Wizards of the Coast, and Renegade Games Studio.

image of

Poorna M she/her

Poorna is a TTRPG content creator, aspiring writer and freelance editor who stumbled into the world of TTRPGs four years ago and has been consumed by it ever since. She hails from southern and western India and has never met a bookshelf she didn't covet. In the rare moments she isn't distracted by fantasy fiction and the brilliant world of board games, she rambles about mental health in her slice-of-life webcomic, Meta Cheez. There is only so much time she can go without caffeination before language processing becomes insurmountable.

image of

Puja Vaarta she/her

Puja Vaarta is queer, Indian-American streamer, writer, and voice actor from Houston, TX. She started out exploring games as a hobbyist, before realizing it could be a career path that would challenge her creativity as a storyteller, actor, and improviser. Growing up as a third culture kid and moving between several different countries as a child, her interests as a performer lie in showcasing her heritage, upbringing, and queerness in all its intricate glory.

image of

Raya Sarkar she/her

Raya is a freelance illustrator and tattoo artist based in Mumbai, India. Traditional inks being a favorite medium to work in, she can often be found working her G-Nib into the dead of night. As a feminist and animal lover, Raya wants her art to help pave the way for a brighter, more accepting, and more tolerant future through the visual narratives she creates. Her hobbies include long walks, reading comics, playing D&D, and befriending as many animals as she possibly can

image of

Sadekaronhes any pronouns

Sadekaronhes Esquivel, is Kanyen’kehà:ka/ Mexican Indigenous, who’s maternal family is from Tyendinaga Mohawk Reserve in Ontario, CA. He comes from a family of artists, writers, beaders, painters, and regalia crafters. Sadekaronhes uses digital illustration and games to craft worlds and stories with the intention of changing the stereotypes of what is considered “Native” art. He is currently serving as the Art Lead/ Concept Designer, for the Indigenous Cyber-Noir Detective game, “Hill Agency: PURITY/decay”, Available for PC on Steam and Itch.io. He is currently resides in the Duwamish homelands of Seattle.

  • Comic Artist: MOONSHOT VOL3, HOWL: Wolves, Werewolves and Rougarou, The Indigenous Werewolf anthology.
  • TTRPG Illustrator: “Coyote & Crow”,the Indigenous Science Fantasy TTRPG Kickstarter hit.
  • Writer: Avatar Legends TTRPG, HOWL: Wolves, Werewolves and Rougarou, The Indigenous Werewolf anthology.
  • Concept Artist: Hill Agency PURITY/decay, Blacklight: Retribution, SAW II: Flesh & Blood, Blacklight: Tango Down, SAW [the video game],

He spent 5 years as a ParaEducator with SpEd students in North Central Washington State, where he taught art in an after-school art program. He has also worked as a Volunteer EMT/Firefighter for the Confederated Colville Indian Tribes. He was also involved in non-profit outreach with the Native community in the Greater Seattle area.

image of

Samuel Clarice Mui Shen Ern he/any

Samuel Clarice Mui Shen Ern (he/any) is a Chinese Malaysian game designer, editor, and computational artist currently based in London whose work explores topics like Christianity, mental health, body horror, self-improvement, and punching monsters with the power of friendship. Their latest projects include Capitalites, an autobiographical GM-less game about young adulthood and asian identity, and Lumen Ryder Core, a fighting-game-inspired, highly customizable tokusatsu game with a pan-genre twist.

Their long-term goal is to use games and playful technology as tools for medicine and education. When they’re not designing games, you can find them thrift shopping, watching exploitation movies, attending Bible study, listening to kpop, or being a public menace.

image of

Sebastian Yūe they/them

Sebastian is a queer, British-Chinese writer, editor, and occasional actual play performer based in Canada. They like to tell messy, complex stories about messy, complex people. Sebastian's past projects include the 5e adventure Lake of Secrets and their indie game CROSSROADS. They have contributed to products for Lone Colossus Games, Metal Weave Games, NeverEnding Inc., and Sword Queen Games, and collaborated on ENnie award-winning projects like UNCAGED: Goddesses and the TTRPG Safety Toolkit. Sebastian has also appeared on streams for the official Dungeons & Dragons Twitch channel, the Gen Con Main Stage, Huetopia, and IsFridayTV. They work full-time as a game designer at Hit Point Press.

image of

Shu Qing Tan she/her

Shu Qing Tan is an ENNIE award-winning TTRPG designer. She has worked with Baldman Games, Cubicle 7, GameholeCon, and more. As a Malaysian Chinese immigrant living in Australia, identity and belonging are themes close to her heart. She occasionally fosters cats.

image of

Tan Shao Han he/him

A proud descendant of seafaring peasants, jungle fighters, and coffee merchants, Shao divides his days between making games inspired by SEAsian histories and teaching history in SEAsian universities. A longtime supporter of the RPGSEA (Roleplaying Games Southeast Asia) dream, Shao mostly works on his own games at Curious Chimeras, and has also worked for Evil Hat, Paizo, Pelgrane, and Wizards of the Coast.

image of

Taylor Navarro she/her

Taylor Navarro is a Hispanic-British freelance TTRPG game designer, editor, and project manager based in the southeast of England. Most notably, Taylor has been the senior editor on Journeys Beyond the Radiant Citadel (DM’s Guild), writer and senior editor on Encounters in the Radiant Citadel (DM’s Guild), and producer for Tales from Sina Una (Kickstarter, Hit Point Press). She enjoys creating heartwrenching games and encounters related to her experiences in parenthood, and talking about her close friends-slash-rivals at any given opportunity.

image of

Tomas Gimenez Rioja he/him

Getting to watch, play, or create new stories is something I've always loved doing. Being a big lover of cinema, series, videogames, and acting, it was only a matter of time before I started DMing. In my spare time, I started writing for Trbality, and ended up working on the Vodari book series with them. I have 100+ articles sharing my knowledge on how to GM, as well as some of my own products and games in DMs Guild, DrivethruRPG, and Itch. Additionally, I recently began both writing and participating in podcasts on The Gnome Stew as well. If you want to share one of the stories from your games or talk about tech stuff, don't be scared to say hi!

image of

Willy! any pronouns

Willy is an amalgam of game design, whimsy, and funposting. Willy has worked with Niantic, MCDM, 2CGaming, Ghostfire Gaming, and EN World on a variety of gaming fare (more often than not slipping in clowns and frogs wherever possible). You can also find a lot of Willy's work on the DMs Guild, such as The Book of House and Build-A-Were Workshop. But more often than not, you can find Willy causing problems on Twitter @TheWillyboo.

Sponsors

Several generous sponsors have made individual and corporate contributions to make our POC Programming possible. Their support of transformative change in games is so important, and we are grateful for their generous contributions. We would like to add a special thanks to our major donors:

$10,000+

$5,000+

Illustration of Little Red

Little Red Event Manager is down! Booking and forms are not available.