Games For Change - The Organization

The Organization

Founded in 2004, Games for Change facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts. It brings together organizations and individuals from the social impact sector, government, media, academia, the gaming industry, and the arts to grow the field, incubate new projects, and provide an open platform for the exchange of ideas and resources. It is the only non-profit dedicated to uniting the various parties needed to create and distribute successful social impact games. Games for Change specializes in bringing together funders, content specialists, learning experts, and creative teams to create successful and sustainable titles.

Games for Change acts as a catalyst for the creation of high quality, high impact educational and social change games while building and sharing replicable models for game funders, commissioners, and developers to use. These tools will advance the field and inspire private investment, greater adoption of by nonprofits and Government agencies, and widespread mainstream public participation. The work includes providing an entry point for game makers, content creators, and public sector entities that are new to the field. For the funding community, Games for Change shows signs of becoming a coordinating hub for collaborative investment and evaluation of social change games projects. Games for Change also strives to educate the philanthropic and corporate community, engage the public, and advocate for high-quality games.

One example of how Games for Change leverages the resources of major foundations is its relationship with the AMD Foundation. Games for Change was chosen to be the founding partner by the AMD Foundation for its signature education program, “Changing the Game”, which enriches the educational experience of young people aged 13 through 18. The initiative enables youth to learn critical STEM skills, become globally conscious citizens, and contribute solutions to social issues by creating their own games. The program now has added partners across the US and Asia, including Beijing Game Design Workshop & Technology Lab, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and Malaysian Cybergames Festival 2010.

Games for Change has worked further with the AMD Foundation on initiatives to inspire youth engagement and support organizations in making and using games. “Let the Games Begin: A Toolkit 4 Making Social Issue Games” includes examples of social change games, interviews and video lectures by experts in the field, and guidance for individuals and organizations creating social issue games for the first time. Distributed online and as a DVD, it has reached tens of thousands of educators, individuals and organizations. “The Power of Design: Youth Making Social Issue Games” is a series of daylong workshops directed at educators to give an overview of game design platforms and successful youth game design curricula and programs. Partners and collaborators on the program included Global Kids, World Wide Workshop, PETLab, EDC/Center for Children & Technology, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Quest to Learn among others. This workshop has reached hundreds of educators and is set to reach thousands more via a partnership with Scholastic that will feature it on their website. The “101 Workshop” is another series of programs to make the case for social impact games and to support organizations and individuals who want to use digital games as a part of educational and outreach efforts. This workshop has reached over 5,000 educators and decision makers in the public sector, and will also reach many more via the Scholastic website.

Beyond these intensive, long-term relationships, Games for Change’s influence is also seen in the remarkably wide, cross-sector list of companies and organizations that have sought its advice: Hasbro, News Corp, Google Ideas, ABC News, Edelman, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Special Olympics / North America, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, UN Foundation, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Millennium Promise, DoSomehing.org, Ballard & Tighe Publishers, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fetzer Institute, Energy Solutions Foundation, Participant Media, Choices, The Rockefeller Foundation, Just Detention International, and Concerned Children’s Advertisers. And as the field’s leading advocate, Games for Change has been invited to present and speak at many important gatherings and think tanks, from TEDx to Harvard’s Kennedy School.