EA, Microsoft and Epic Games join Raising Good Gamers' advisory board

Raising Good Gamers today unveiled its advisory board, which includes 32 individuals from a wide range of companies, and outlined its roadmap.

The initiative was launched this summer by non-profit organisation Games for Change, which champions the games industry to make real-life impact, in partnership with Connected Learning Lab from the University of California, Irvine.

Raising Good Gamers aims at creating a "more diverse, inclusive and positive online environment for youth," and it now has the support and expertise of companies such as EA, Epic Games, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Mojang, Niantic, Riot Games, Roblox, Supercell, and Ubisoft as part of its advisory board.

Organisations such as AbleGamers, the Anti-Defamation League or the Hispanic Heritage Foundation will also be part of the board, as well as "teen ambassadors whose voices will be at the centre of the coalition,” president of Games for Change and Raising Good Gamers co-founder Susanna Pollack said.

Outlining its roadmap in a white paper called 'Envisioning an Agenda for Diversity, Inclusion, and Fair Play', the organisation announced it will initially focus on four objectives: gauging how developers proactively design to fight toxicity and encourage positive behaviours, identifying and sharing best practices, highlighting where player recruitment, retention, and behaviour is addressed in the development process, and analysing players' response to tools implemented to tame toxicity.

The idea is to address a current gap in the games industry: "No systematic work at scale has been done to understand, document, and synthesise anti-racism, anti-hate and harassment, anti-toxicity, and prosocial efforts across gaming communities," the announcement said.

Raising Good Gamers also announced its intention to drive fundraising efforts.

Here's the full list of the initiative's advisory board:

• Daniel Kelley, Associate Director, Center for Technology and Society, Anti-Defamation League
• Morgan Romine, Director of Initiatives, AnyKey
• Mark Barlet, Founder, AbleGamers
• Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation
• Michael Preston, Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
• Laura Higgins, Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility, Roblox
• Nate Sawatzky, Trust & Safety Lead, Supercell
• Jennifer Pierre, User Experience Researcher, Google Stadia
• Leo Olebe, Global Director of Games Partnerships, Facebook Gaming
• Karen Gravois Elliott, Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs, ESA
• Dan Ayoub, General Manager for Education, Microsoft Education
• Vu Bui, Chief Media Officer, Mojang Studios
• Linda Sellheim, Education Lead, Epic Games
• Oriane Cappella, VP Corporate Social Responsibility, Ubisoft
• Jeff Burrell, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility, Riot Games
• Sara DeWitt, Vice President, PBS KIDS Digital
• Rachelle Vallon, Middle School Guidance Counselor, Quest to Learn
• Makeda Mays Green, VP of Digital Consumer Insights, Nickelodeon
• Kishonna Gray, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois
• Celia Hodent, Game UX Strategist
• Stephanie Reich, Associate Professor (and Associate Dean, Graduate Program) School of Education at UC Irvine
• Mimi Ito, Director, Connected Learning Lab
• Kerry Hopkins, Vice President, Legal Affairs Electronic Arts
• Julie Kitt, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, ESA
• Yennie Solheim, Head of Social Impact, Niantic
• Laila Shabir, CEO, Girls Make Games
• Scott Gerwin, Senior Counsel, Google Stadia
• Colleen Macklin, Associate Professor, Parsons School of Design
• Monica Arrambide, CEO and Founder, Maven Youth
• Richard Culatta, CEO, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
• J Collins, CEO, Liminal Esports and Snowbright Studio
• Patricia Vance, President, Entertainment Software Rating Board