Pernilla AlexanderssonCEO – Add Gender
Pernilla Alexandersson is the CEO of Add Gender, a consultancy based in Stockholm, Sweden - specializing in equality and inclusion since 2008.
With a background in both gender studies and gaming culture, she has worked with game companies, educators, and developers to build more inclusive games and workplaces. As a creative “Norm Engineer,” she is passionate about using technology and play as tools for social change.
Jens AnderssonDesign Director – Collecting Smiles
Jens is a Game Designer and Programmer, who began his career as a founding member of Starbreeze in 1998, working on games like Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness.
As an indie developer, he created award-winning games like "Colors!" and "Yoku’s Island Express". Most recently, he served as Design Director for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle at MachineGames.
Elvira BjörkmanMusic Composer – Two Feathers
Elvira Björkman is one of the feathers (composers) in the multi-award-winning composer duo Two Feathers. She's a music composer and technical music designer, creating music works spanning various genres from fantasy symphonic pieces, to horror and metal. She’s worked on many varied game genres, with experience working with big and small budgets; including League of Legends, Metal: Hellsinger, Vampire: The Masquerade - Justice, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, Aragami, Ravenbound, Hammerwatch, and Angry Birds 2.
With 12+ years of experience in the games industry within everything audio; from Music Composing to Audio Programming - as well as a past as a game design student alumni and currently on the advisory board member of both GDC (Game Developers Conference) and G.A.N.G (Game Audio Network Guild) - she hopes to bring interesting insights about Two Feathers music works to this talk.
Mathieu CastelliChief Creative Officer – Resolution Games
I've been a creative at Resolution Games for 7 years! Going through the impact of the Meta Quest devices, and now enjoying the arrival of AR glasses.
Aksel EnglundUX & Accessibility Designer – Mojang Studios
I’m a UX designer at Mojang Studios, where I work on Minecraft and focus on making the game more accessible for everyone. Before getting into games, I spent over ten years designing assistive tools and prostheses with people with disabilities. That experience still guides how I think about design and play today.
Designing for Play and Well-Being: Game Devs as Game Changers
Nearly 2 billion people play games - with children and youth at the heart of this number. With the right design choices, games can connect, include, empower, and help them build real-world skills for the future. That’s a serious opportunity for devs and designers - to craft experiences that feel good and do good!
In this session, UNICEF will equip you with insights from the RITEC Design Toolbox, alongside examples from studios already putting some of these ideas into play. We’ll also spotlight global collabs like the Game Changers Coalition, where the whole industry can turn good games into great impact.
Jakob EricssonDesign Director – MachineGames
Jake is a game-dev at Machinegames with 20 years of making first person shooters in the bag - Programmer at heart, Design Director at work.
Fernando Forero PinillaUI Artist Senior II – Blizzard Entertainment
I'm a multidisciplinary Graphic Designer based in Leipzig, Germany, with 26+ years of experience across TV, advertising, typography, corporate identity, web, and video games. Currently Senior UI Artist II on Diablo IV at Blizzard Entertainment, where I’ve worked for over 8+ years. Previously, I was Senior UI Artist at Good Game Studio (AAA and mobile projects) and UI Artist at CD Projekt Red, contributing to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and early prototypes of Cyberpunk 2077.
My career began in Colombia, where I worked in advertising agencies even before graduating with honors in Graphic Design. Since then, I’ve created more than personal 20 typefaces, developed award-winning illustrations, and built a diverse portfolio spanning Latin America, the U.S., and Europe. Alongside my professional work, I create personal projects that have earned international recognition, exhibitions, and features in leading design magazines such as IdN, Imagine FX, 2D Artist, and DPI. Passionate about visual storytelling, I continue exploring new creative challenges across both professional and personal fields.
Jakub GalanciakTechnical UX/UI Designer – 11bit Studios
Technical UX/UI Designer for Frostpunk 2 Psychologist, graphic designer, programmer, UX researcher, modding enthusiast.
Dennis GregerProducer
Dennis Greger (they/them) is a Game Designer and Producer who specializes in titles relying heavily on procedural systems, especially procedural narrative, and Live Service Events.
Before moving into game dev in 2019, they’ve worked for eleven years with Reality TV design and IP development, thereby becoming an expert in social mechanics. Is usually game mastering soapy melodramas or looking for new deck builders.
Martin HalldinAudio Lead – Wrong Organ
I'm a musician and sound designer living in Stockholm working on gross stuff.
Anna Högberg JeneliusIndie Game Developer – Valiant Game Studio
Anna has 14 years of experience in the games industry, the last 10 of which as an indie game developer and consultant. Besides making games, Anna is passionate about making the industry and games themselves more inclusive through for example organizing the series of meetups Link In Bar.
Louisa KeightProject Lead, Green Game Jam – Playing for the Planet
Louisa Keight is Project Lead for the Green Game Jam, an annual challenge for studios who work on live games with existing audiences to build new content that engages their players on environmental topics.
A project of Playing for the Planet, facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Green Game Jam has welcomed game teams such as Subway Surfers, PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings and Just Dance.
Joni LappalainenCEO – Dreamloop Games Oy
Joni Lappalainen is the CEO of Dreamloop Games, Chairperson of the Finnish Game Developers Association, and Showrunner of the Finnish Game Incubator. With over 30 shipped games and deep experience helping 100+ studios with their projects, Joni brings practical, hard-earned insight into sustainable production.
In “Stop with the Hero Complex”, he draws on real dev horror stories (and a little dry Finnish humor) to challenge burnout culture and help teams ship smarter.
Lulu LiChild rights and sustainability advisor – UNICEF Sweden
Growing up with a Nintendo 8-bit NES and a “first career” at her local game store, Lulu has always believed in the power of games to tell stories, spark joy, and bring people together.
Today she works as a child rights and sustainability advisor at UNICEF Sweden, bringing deep expertise on how businesses can harness their power for social good. Lulu leads UNICEF Sweden’s efforts to guide and support companies and decision-makers in building a safe, inclusive and equitable world that every child deserves.
Fawzi MesmarCreative Director – Ubisoft
Fawzi Mesmar is an award winning Creative Director, Game designer, Author and Public Speaker who has been in the gaming industry for over two decades in a career that spanned The Middle East, New Zealand, Japan and Europe, working for companies such as Ubisoft, EA, Activision Blizzard, Gameloft and Atlus to name a few.
He has worked many titles that have been enjoyed by millions of players worldwide including entries in Beyond Good and Evil, Mario Rabbids, Battlefield and Star Wars franchises. He is also the author of "Al-Khallab in the art of game design" the first Arabic language text book on game design and “demystifying creativity on originality in game development”. Fawzi was also the recipient of the Ambassador award in 2024.
Simon PostCreative Director – Perfect Random
Co-founder and Creative Director at Perfect Random. I make art, game design and general company stuff.
Ahmed SalamaFounder & Game UX Consultant – Ludo Hobo
Ahmed has been designing and coding user interfaces since 2005 and has worked in games since 2013, contributing to titles like Killzone: Shadow Fall, Horizon Zero Dawn, Battlefield, and Star Wars: Battlefront. He later served as UX Director at Ubisoft Stockholm and as Content Director at Ubisoft’s Global Creative Office.
Today, he runs his own consultancy, Ludo Hobo, focusing on UI technology, design, art, and leadership. He is also a public speaker and teaches Game UX design at Future Games.
Martin Singh-BlomMachine Learning Lead – Embark Studios
Martin has been working at the intersection of video games and machine learning since 2017 and has been working on walking robots at Embark since soon after Embark got started.
Brian SpanGame Designer – The Gang Studio
Generalist Game Designer focused on building on Roblox for the past 3.5 years. Most recently led the design of Prison Pump — one of the platform’s fastest-growing games at the time, reaching over 18K concurrent players and 40M visits in under two months. Previously led the Webby Award–winning FIFA Roblox experiences and multiple branded projects.
Before transitioning into game development, Brian spent 11 years as a professional athlete — an experience that shaped his competitive mindset and passion for creating games that engage and inspire players. He now leads design on Roblox original IP at The Gang Studios, focusing on developing new games and managing live ops for the studio’s own titles.
Mariam TabatadzeInnovation Consultant – UNICEF
Mariam Tabatadze is an Innovation Consultant with UNICEF, where she supports the Game Changers Coalition—a global initiative channeling the power of video game industry into digital skills building for young people.
With a decade of experience in international development, Mariam has designed and managed multi-million-dollar programs advancing digital inclusion, gender equality, and youth empowerment across multiple regions. With a Fulbright Scholar with an MA in International Political Economy and Development, she brings deep expertise in building cross-sector partnerships with leading tech companies, governments, and civil society.
Pussel WidegrenGame Designer – Hazelight Studios
Pussel Widegren is a game designer at Hazelight Studios, the team behind It Takes Two. Since the early stages of Split Fiction, he has been shaping its design with a focus on co-op gameplay. Pussel is passionate about crafting experiences that demand true collaboration between two players.
