Indie Dev Podcast - Sarah Sexton

Increasing diversity in games and the STEM fields is my passion. I was honored to join Dave Voyles for an interview about who I am, what I do in my career and my community, and the website I use to transcribe mu interviews with women who build video games, www.shebuildsgames.com. 

As an undergrad, I founded the Ada Lovelace Club for Women in Computer Science at Central Washington University, which is still going strong today. I fund-raised and organized a club field trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration of women in computing Conference. Because of my professional and friendly attitude, I was hired at Microsoft as a Technical Evangelist soon after I graduated. This process also tested my ability to be flexible, understanding, and patient in a changing environment, because my in-person interviews (in Chicago) had to take place immediately after my semester finals!

After moving to Chicago, I co-founded the Voxelles: Chicago's Women in Game Development. I cherished opportunities to guest-lecture organizations like Girls Make Games, Girls Who Code, and several high schools & colleges about game development and tech.

At last year's Game Developers Conference (GDC), I was accepted as an International Game Developers Association (IGDA) volunteer, where I provided support for the recruitment effort at their booth. The year before, I attended as a volunteer for Microsoft, and helped answer attendees' questions at the Xbox booth. Both years, I enthusiastically attended the Women in Gaming Luncheon presented by Xbox. I have kept my in-person and online communication skills sharp as I organized roadshows with Unity in Chicago, ran 4 game jams with the Voxelles, and sponsored Global Game Jam through Microsoft.

Like I said in the video interview with Dave, embedded above, "I want all the girls who follow in my footsteps to believe that they are Strong Female Characters. They can be the protagonists of their own life video games."