Serena (she/her) is Fijian Indian Social Innovator & Designer who serves across the social and public sector. Serena is a co-founder, experienced board director/trustee, gamer, livestreamer and community events manager for the NZ Livestream gaming community. Serena is invested in honouring our responsibilities as Tangata Tiriti and meaningful leadership and recognition from underrepresented gaming spaces.

Serena believes in the power of games to have discussions and experiences towards a just and accessible world. She loves story-led games, D&D, learning arts & crafts and trying to invent new foods through baking experiments. Serena is a keen listener and mental health support person. Always available for chats or conversations on any topic!

Cameron is a programmer, composer, and game accessibility consultant from Wellington. They are currently working as an accessibility consultant on Wayward Strand. Cameron is also a co-founder of Accessibility Unlocked, a group that aims to advocate for and support disabled and neurodivergent game developers in Australia and New Zealand. Accessibility Unlocked was listed as one of 2020’s Game Changers by gamesindustry.biz.

Tanya Marriott is a multidisciplinary designer who works in a variety of media including interactive design and play, character and toy design, experience design and game. Her work seeks to build meaningful experiences and storytelling opportunities between digital and tangible activities.

She is an internationally recognised art doll and toy designer, member of the National Institute of American Doll Artists and an alumna of the Pictoplasma academy.

Tanya teaches concept design, toy, play and game design at Massey University, and is program leader for the new Bachelor of Concept Design. Tanya has just finished her PhD “Wild Play” An exploration in character toy play within nature.

Josh is a game developer, producer and dad. While spending the last six years abroad, he joined game dev communities in the UK, Germany and Finland. Now back in Aotearoa, he’s here to bring that knowledge and know-how, and transform it into a fun, engaging, and exciting awards night at The Pavs in 2024. He loves hiking, travelling, learning languages and of course, making and playing games.

Matthew has spent over 20 years making games across 3 continents. They started making mods in their bedroom, but have worked on AAA titles, delivered award winning experiences with major partners and helped lead teams and studios. But most importantly for them, they’ve been the driver and deliverer of things that bring joy into the world and make a positive impact to players across the globe.