VSGI - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• CEO

Job Titles:

• Independent Game Designer, Writer, Producer

Bob Bates began his career writing text adventures for Infocom in 1986. Since then he has written, co-designed, produced, or made significant contributions to more than 50 videogames. Titles he has worked on have won not only critical acclaim (74 industry awards and nominations, including two Adventure Game of the Year awards), but also financial success (over 6 million units sold, including a #1 game on the PC (Unreal2) and a #1 console game (Spider-Man3 for PS2 and Wii), as well as several Top 5 Facebook games, including FrontierVille, and Empires & Allies. In 1989 Bob co-founded Legend Entertainment and served as its President until the company's 1998 sale to GT Interactive, the company that would become Atari. He continued as an Atari executive, Legend's Studio Head, and as an active game designer/producer until the studio closed in January of 2004. He worked for seven years as an independent game designer, writer, and producer. From 2010 to 2014 he worked at Zynga as Chief Creative Officer for External Studios, and later as Zynga's first Design Fellow. In January 2014 he returned to consulting and indie game development. Bob is the twice-past Chairman of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA). A frequent speaker at worldwide industry conferences and events, he is also the co-founder and organizer of the Game Designer's Workshop, an annual invitation-only conference attended by many of the top storytelling game designers in the business. Bob is also on the advisory boards of the Game Design Degree Program at George Mason University and of Project Horseshoe, a game-designer think-tank. Bob is the author of one of the industry's bestselling books on game development, Game Design: The Art and Business of Creating Games, which is used as a textbook by several colleges and universities. He has lectured on game design at MIT, Columbia, George Washington University, and Carnegie Mellon, and he is also the editor of the Game Developers Market Guide from Premier Press. In early 2007 he co-authored "When Worlds Collide" a 269-page report on the Serious Games Industry for a government think tank. Bob's most recent game, Thaumistry: In Charm's Way, is a one-man indie-project released in October 2017. Bob is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the IGDA, and was selected as the IGDA's 2010 Person of the Year.

Job Titles:

• Management Specialist at Booz Allen Hamilton

Dr. Rhonda Farrell, D.Sc., J.D., CISSP, CSSLP, CCMP, CMQ/OE, CSQE is a Cybersecurity Change Management Specialist at Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH). She is an ISSA International Distinguished Fellow and is the Co-Founder of the Women in Security Special Interest Group (WIS SIG). She serves on multiple non-profit boards and leadership committees in the cyber, innovation, quality, and STEM areas, passionately pursuing strategic partnerships which actively enhance youth and adult success opportunities internationally. Her industry background includes 30 years of expertise with Fortune 500 firms, state government, education, and federal government consulting in Silicon Valley, National Capital Region, and Internationally.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner, Ponderosa Management Group

Since 2003, Drew Crowder has been part of the development of the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. During that time he has designed and built more than 250 community amenities across the DC Metro area and building in nearly half a dozen states in the region. In addition to his local design, construction and development acumen, Drew is the PR chair for Metro Washington Mensa, an international organization with over 130,000 members. He is also an accomplished chef, professional gamer, TV personality, streamer and published author with over 200,000 books sold. His entertainment and event experience goes back over a decade when he began building the Hashtag family of companies under the umbrella of its parent company DC Entertainment Solutions. Drew, (called Hashtag by the kids), has been the driving force and investor behind Hashtag since its inception in 2006, creating and fostering the growth and development of each branch of the company and managing the workforce and workflow of each. Due to this, he cultivates a collaborative approach to be able to manage and delegate based on collective ability, allowing for an instructional method to his assignment of duties. He opened his first Hashtag Arena in 2018, and has expansion plans for 6 more facilities in 2021, forging the way for innovative community centers for gaming and STEM across the country. His knowledge of such a wide range of components to each business makes him unmatched in his ability to negotiate the changing landscape of media, gaming, development and innovation, and his connections to each industry are unique to a single place, a single family, that's Hashtag.

Job Titles:

• Delegate, 35th District, Commonwealth of Virginia

Former Delegate (2010-2018), 51st District, Commonwealth of Virginia Richard L. (Rich) Anderson is a native of Roanoke, VA, graduated in 1979 from Virginia Tech, and served for 30 years in the United States Air Force before retiring as a colonel in 2009.

Job Titles:

• Developer
• Associate Research Professor

Jacob Enfield is a game developer, an educator, and researcher. He earned his Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology department at Indiana University; his M.S. in Educational Technology at CSU Fullerton; and his B.S. in Secondary Education at Kansas State University. Jacob has worked professionally as a game programmer with Edutainment Systems LLC and independently as a game developer creating his own series of games to promote learning of mathematics. Over the past 20 years, Jacob has taught computer science, multimedia production, game development, VR Production, and mathematics courses at K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, and corporate settings. Jacob's research focuses on game-based learning and effective educational game design. For example, his doctoral dissertation focused on the effective re-design of the Diffusion Simulation Game following the Ten Steps to Complex Learning ID theory.

Job Titles:

• Director, and Assistant Professor Computer Game Design

James has over 12 years of experience developing video games. He has extensive knowledge in the production and live management of games working on titles from Mythic Entertainment, Bioware, EA, and EA Mobile. James worked in a number of roles including customer service, design, content lead, and producer. The majority of his tenure in the industry was in the producer role with production experience on Live and in-development titles. His portfolio of work includes such PC titles as Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online, Imperator Online, Warhammer Online: Age of Chaos, Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as well as the mobile titles Ultima Forever and Dungeon Keeper. As well, James worked on a number of prototype projects and co-development titles for the studio and helped to lead the transition to mobile for the studio. He's earned his Master and Bachelor degrees in Business Administration as well as a creative writing minor.

Job Titles:

• Partner

Jim Gatto is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office. He is also Co-Team Leader of the firm's Blockchain Technology and Digital Currency team, and its Social Media and Games industry team. He also is Team Leader of the firm's Open Source team.

Job Titles:

• Senior Vice President, MVB Bank

Job Titles:

• Operations Manager for the Mason Game & Technology Academy
• Operations Manager, Mason Game & Technology Academy

Joshua Emswiller is the Operations Manager for the Mason Game & Technology Academy. He graduated from George Mason University with a B.F.A. in Computer Game Design. Since graduating, he has been working as a 3D artist and animator for multiple private companies and VSGI start-up companies and contracts. As a Senior Instructor for MGTA, he has taught and developed a wide variety of courses, including: Game Design, Unity and Mixed Reality, Roblox Game Development, Minecraft Modding and Art & Animation.

Job Titles:

• President, Jaka Consulting Group

Job Titles:

• Federal Partnerships Committee Chair

Job Titles:

• CEO, Leaseweb USA, Inc

Job Titles:

• Administrative Assistant
• Client Services Coordinator

Rizza Villacorte is the Client Services Coordinator for the VSGI. She is responsible for coordinating activities related to onboarding new resident companies and ensures that they have the resources to grow their company. She also provides support to the management team by organizing the quarterly Board Meeting, assisting with the annual Tech Bash and overseeing the daily workflow of the office. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Operations Management and Information Systems from Northern Illinois University.

Job Titles:

• Director of Administration
• Director of Administration and Operations, GMU Science and Technology Campus
• First General Manager for the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center

Ron Carmichael now serves as the Director of Administration and Operations (DAO) for George Mason University's Science and Technology (SciTech) Campus. He is responsible for all short and long term planning for operational matters regarding strategic planning and development for the campus. His responsibilities include managing or coordinating all components of campus operations to include academic support, auxiliary support services, community relations, university life, safety, police, facilities management, vendors, and contractors. He serves as Mason's representative on the executive boards for the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center and the Hylton Performing Arts Center, as well as serving on the SciTech Campus Advisory Board. Additionally, he serves on numerous other University boards and committees representing the campus and serves as the campus representative on the Emergency Operations Team. Finally, he has served as an adjunct faculty member for the School of Recreation, Health and Tourism, College of Education and Human Development, where he taught an undergraduate course on the planning, design and maintenance of recreation and leisure facilities and/or recreation management, programming, and marketing. Ron joined the university in 1999 as the first General Manager for the Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center, a tri-partite partnership with Prince William County, the City of Manassas and George Mason University, where he served for 8 years prior to accepting duties as the first Executive Officer of the SciTech Campus, formerly known as the Prince William Campus. Subsequently, his duties were expanded to Director of Operations for Regional Campuses providing operational oversight and management of the Arlington Campus and Loudoun Instructional Site, as well as the SciTech Campus. Due to a significant increase in the development of SciTech, he assumed his current duties as DAO and focuses his efforts solely at the SciTech Campus. Prior to joining the Mason team, Ron served for 24 years on active duty in the US Army. During his first 14 years on active duty, he served as an Armor Officer and Aviator (helicopter pilot), then his later assignments involved community support and recreation management. Following retirement, he worked as the Recreation Director at the Armed Forces Recreation Center in Garmisch Germany; as the Director of Soldier Support Services for the Multinational Force & Observers (Peacekeeping) on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt; and finally as the Program Manager for the Business Operations Directorate at the Department of the Army Headquarters. EDUCATION: Ron has earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Ohio University and a Masters of Science in Industrial Relations from West Virginia University. He has also completed successive levels of leadership, management and personnel training while on active duty, including the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and numerous business, recreation, and personnel management training courses and seminars.

Job Titles:

• Associate
• Associate Dean of Executive Education, GMU

Roy is currently Associate Dean and Director of Program Design at George Mason University, Executive and Professional Education. His responsibilities include developing and implementing strategies for program design, development, and delivery. Prior to joining the Executive and Professional Education team, Roy was the Associate Dean and Director of Executive Education within the School of Business. Before coming to George Mason he was the Managing Director of Exquiry, LLC, a leadership and performance development firm. While at Exquiry, he was responsible for business and program development, individual and team coaching and public speaking. Roy has contributed as adjunct professor to the EMBA programs at Villanova University and Loyola University (Chicago) teaching courses in Strategy and Organization. In addition, he has taught at The Kellogg School of Northwestern University, Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, University of Texas and Rollins College as well as founding and operating a management consulting firm specializing in business simulations and executive education. In 1985 Roy founded Burgundy Group, Inc., a management consulting firm specializing in the design and development of business simulations and executive education. He designed and participated in the development of over fifty business simulations in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, insurance, banking, hospitality & tourism, healthcare, government and not-for-profit organizations. During his twelve-year tenure at Burgundy Group, he also taught courses in leadership, strategy development and implementation, change management, teamwork and coordinated action, communications, organizational climate, trust, and system dynamics. Roy has worked with many organizations worldwide including Allen-Bradley, the American Red Cross, Allstate, Caterpillar, Citibank, Chrysler Corporation, General Motors, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Motorola, Quaker Oats, Texas Instruments and Visteon. He has published articles in human resource and strategy journals and has written several books pertaining to business simulations. Roy received his PhD in management from Northwestern University in 1981 and his MBA from Pepperdine University in 1976. He is also a graduate of the Newfield Network Coaching for Professional and Personal Mastery program which is accredited by the International Coach Federation.

Job Titles:

• Director, Computer Game Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts, George Mason University

Senator George L. Barker represents Virginia's 39th District, which includes parts of Alexandria City, southern Fairfax, and northern Prince William counties. Elected to the Senate of Virginia in 2007, he currently sits on the Finance, Education & Health, and General Laws & Technology Committees. He is also a member of the Joint Commission on Healthcare, Deeds' Commission, Virginia Housing Commission, Health Workforce Development Authority, and the Potomac & Rappahannock Transportation Commission. Since moving to Virginia over 35 years ago, Senator Barker has been involved with a wide variety of local issues and has been an active member of a number of civic and community organizations. As the chair of Fairfax County's Transportation Advisory Commission and vice-chair of the Tysons Task Force, Senator Barker worked to improve transportation conditions and helped to re-design Tysons Corner. He has also chaired several other state, county, and regional organizations related to health care, human resources, and transportation. With a background in healthcare management and policy, Senator Barker has worked tirelessly to address the rising costs of quality healthcare for Virginia families.

Job Titles:

• Research Coordinator

Stephanie Kane, Research Coordinator, started at George Mason University as an undergraduate student and earned a Bachelor of Arts in History in 2008, focusing on the Cold War. After working at Mason for more than 9 years, she found her passion in research in video games. She has worked on numerous research projects for the VSGI, contributed to the book Video Games and Personalized Learning to be published in 2021, and is currently earning her Master of Arts in Computer Game Design, expected to finish in 2021, focusing on the phenomenon of Body Ownership in Virtual Reality and how it can be used in gender affirming therapy for transgender patients.

Job Titles:

• Director of Development, College of Visual and Performing Arts, George Mason University

Susan joined George Mason University in 2003 as the Global Grant Coordinator, Office of the Provost. From 2003 to 2014, she provided leadership and support for the advancement of the university's global initiatives by securing more than $12 million in external funding from the U.S. government, foundations, and foreign governments. Susan supported the conceptualization of global research and education projects across the university, and developed strategic plans for the global goals of the university through her participation in the University's Vision process. As Director of Development for the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) since 2014, Susan plays a leadership role in the College's overall development efforts. As a member of the senior leadership of the College, University Advancement and Alumni Relations, she works with faculty, the volunteer leadership of the numerous advisory boards and friends groups, and alumni and community members to provide philanthropic support for CVPA. Susan oversees the major fundraising events of the College, including ARTS by George!, Off the Wall, and the Dance Fête. Prior to Mason, she was an independent consultant for cultural projects, and Director of the Museum Assessment Program at the American Association of Museums (now American Alliance of Museums). She has been awarded the George Mason University Impact Award and the Outstanding Achievement Award, and is a member of the Grants Committee of the Arts Fairfax. Susan holds a MA, Arts Management, George Mason University, and a BA, Art, Bucknell University.

Job Titles:

• President / CAO, John Marshall Bank
• Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Banking Officer and Chief Lending Officer

Bill Ridenour is Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Banking Officer and Chief Lending Officer. Before joining John Marshall Bank, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of James Monroe Bank. His background includes over 44 years' experience in the banking industry, having held numerous positions, including President and CEO with two other local community banks. His community involvement includes serving on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the George Mason University Foundation, the Board of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason and a past member the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Industrial Revenue Board Authority for the Town of Clifton, Virginia, and is a member and Past Chairman of the Community Relations Committee for the Northern Virginia Chapter of the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association. Bill is a member of the National Financial Management Honor Society, a past president of the Country Club of Fairfax, former instructor at the Commercial Lending School of the American Institute of Banking, and a graduate of the Commercial Lending Training Program of Chase Manhattan Bank. Bill holds a Master of Science Degree in Finance from The American University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania.