Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. She’s also a gaming icon, having been named one of the “Gamers of the Year” for 2020 by Kotaku, as well as a 2020 Annenberg Innovation Lab Civic Media Fellow at USC.

The lifelong Chicagoan has made it her mission to make gaming more diverse and inclusive, as she often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality and other topics on social media and her Twitch channel. She’s also part of the Rivals of Waterdeep live play stream, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster, and is the creator and Creative Director of Into the Mother Lands, a new sci fi afro-futurist RPG developed with a team of all POC and Black creators, also live-streamed on her Twitch channel. 

Tanya’s been named one of The Game Awards Future Class of 2020, a diverse group of builders, thinkers and dreamers whose voices elevate and diversify our artform.

It recognizes individuals around the world who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future for video games. She was also invited to the Xbox MVP program in February 2021. 

It’s an immense pleasure to introduce Tanya as our first ever guest on The Nerds of Color’s newest interview series Fightin’ Words, where me and a guest duke it out while having civilized conversations.

You can find the first full episode above, and be sure to stay connected with Tanya across all social media.