Girl Geek Academy is one of Australia’s leading innovators and supports of women and non-binary in tech and games. Since 2014, they’ve seen over 10,000 girls, women and non-binary folks from school students to industry professionals participate in their workshops, online courses, game jams and more, with aims to reach a worldwide audience of one million by 2025.
And now, with the help of Film Victoria, they’re launching their latest project. Film Victoria has contributed $50,000 to help Girl Geek Academy in their latest venture. The Games Career Incubator aims to provide women, girls and non-binary people with access to a program to upskill themselves and prepare for their future in the industry.
Given the unique challenges women and non-binary people face, they want to address these issues by focusing on mentoring and network building, combined with training to impart practical skills, knowledge and support that they’ll need going forward in an ever-changing games industry.
The program itself will run over four months and will combine both face-to-face activities and online interaction to create a complete program featuring monthly meetups with speakers from the industry, networking and one-on-one career sessions. The program topics will range from public speaking right through to career sustainability.
Co-Founder of the Girl Geek Academy and award winning game producer Lisy Kane talked about the importance of accelerating women and non-binary people in the industry:
“We need more women and non-binary talent in senior games roles, and to make sure they have extended careers we need to be upskilling and working to retain this amazing talent. The group format also ensures our participants go beyond technical skill building, and equally focus on the power of professional networks to ensure career success.”
Film Victoria CEO Caroline Pitcher offered her own take on the program:
“The Games Career Incubator supports the future growth of a Victorian games industry wherewomen and non-binary practitioners are equal within the industry. We are delighted to partner with Girl Geek Academy to support so many practitioners on their path to success.”
Applications to the program are open until Monday, 8th of April with the program hoping to run between late April and August. Applications are open to all women and non-binary people, though spaces are limited with only 25 spaces available in the program.
For more information and to submit your application, check the Girl Geek Academy website.
