TEAM
JILL
KENNEY
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
She/Her
Jill is a senior omnichannel marketing expert with over 15 years of experience working with global brands. Prior to joining Paidia, Jill was the Head of Media Network for Red Bull Canada, leading the team responsible for reaching a Gen Z audience through unique and engaging content and experiences across multiple platforms in gaming, sports and culture. Jill is an innovator with an entrepreneurial mindset.
Gaming is awesome and fun, and everyone deserves a welcoming and safe space to enjoy all aspects of it. So why not build a kickass team and company to bring that to life?
STEPHANIE
PELOZA
Co-Founder & Head Narrative Designer
She/Her
Stef is a content creator with over a decade of experience in gaming, fashion, and transgender education, and has been helping brands build their identity throughout her career. Gaming has been a lens of self-discovery throughout her life and in her work she strives to share the enriching value of games while studying them as a storytelling medium. Her streams on Twitch emphasize the joy of play and the exploration of games as hand-crafted worlds. A storyteller at heart, Stef believes digital worlds can teach us a lot about ourselves and the real world around us.
Growing up in a small rural town, it wasn't safe to be myself. I would retreat into video games to explore the world and people as an avatar that wouldn't be singled out or harassed. Now, as an adult woman, new challenges and obstacles exist for women and allies in gaming, and it's my mission to make this space more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
VIVIEN
CHUANG
Chief Financial Officer
She/Her
Vivien is a Chartered Professional Accountant with training from PricewaterhouseCoopers and post designation experience in executive financial reporting roles. She is highly experienced in financial analysis, financial reporting, budgeting, and internal controls, and has successfully taken seven companies public on the Toronto Stock Venture Exchange.
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I have always been passionate about games, like StarCraft and Counter-Strike, which were dominated by male players and often had to hide the fact that I was a woman when playing. Gaming should be enjoyed by everyone.
TAYLOR
SUDERMANN
Director of Digital Products & Platform
She/Her
Taylor is a digital whiz who has in-depth knowledge of audience development, online experiences, and user journey across multiple platforms. Prior to joining Paidia, Taylor was on Red Bull Canada’s Media Network team leading the programming strategy for gaming, esports and core sports projects across their owned and managed channels. Taylor is known for bringing innovative ideas to digital platforms through connecting with the community and their creators. She is an advocate for equal representation in sports and spent 3 years organizing events for women in sport in Canada.
Paidia had me at inclusivity and acceptance. No one should ever feel discouraged to play due to who they are and where they come from. Change starts on top and I am ready to be a part of a team that gives women and ally gamers the platform to make moves.
She/Her
CAMILLE
SALAZAR-HADAWAY
Partnership Activation Manager
Camille is a gaming and esports host, producer, and communications expert with over 10 years of experience in the industry. She has served as a host for numerous tournaments and gaming events; including Mortal Kombat Klash, Nintendo Canada's A Very Mario Trivia Experience and EGLX; and collaborated with various brands; including Xbox, PlayStation, Ubisoft, and Activision. Camille is an advocate for diversity and is an active member of Black Game Pros and South Asian Middle Eastern Pros.
The future of gaming is in making it more inclusive. Everyone should be able to geek out with other members of the community and share their love of games with others.
OUR PURPOSE IS TO BUILD AN INCLUSIVE GAMING COMMUNITY TO EMPOWER GAMERS TO SAFELY CONNECT, LEARN, AND PLAY.
STEPHANIE
DIAZ
Community Platform Specialist
She/Her
Stephanie "Saki Sakura" Diaz is a Puerto-Rican content creator with a background of over 5 years in esports. She's created and helped manage various events under different titles including Overwatch, Dead by Daylight, Mortal Kombat, and more. Her focus is on inclusivity in esports and gaming, using events and tournaments as the doorway to a stronger and better space for everyone.
Play As You Are
LYSS
FORD
Content & Community Specialist
She/Her
Lyss is a variety streamer, content creator, and social media expert. Growing up in a small town, she has been using social media as a way to express herself and connect with others. Over the last 5 years, Lyss has turned her passion for gaming and content creation into a career with her involvement in producing and directing creator content for gaming organizations and managing teams in Overwatch Tournaments.
Gaming has been a part of my life ever since I could remember. Being from a small town, where I'm not always understood, its nice to have a place that motivates me to be myself. Paidia's mission is so refreshing to see and I'm so excited to be a part of it! #PlayAsYouAre
KELLY
TOKI
Illustration Art Direction
She/They
Kelly is a creative professional with over a decade of experience in a wide range of visual enterprises. From game dev concept art to advertising, marketing, and streaming, their experiences cover a broad spectrum of visual aspects in the gaming and entertainment industry.
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Why am I excited? I'm tired of being tired. I want change, so here we go!
MY TURN.
VERONIQUE
LOU
Creative Producer
She/Her
The creative glue behind an impressive variety of Esports and Gaming content Vero has been playing on “Hard Mode” for the past 7 years. Working as a Lead Producer for Broadcasts with titles as diverse as Valorant to Magic the Gathering, Vero’s superpower is her ability to balance creative goals with real world production realities. With a keen eye for ID’ing what resonates with an audience, Vero area of expertise stretches from live broadcasts all the way to social deliverables and back again.
Play As You Are
JOCELIN
CALDWELL
Human Resources & Operations
She/Her
Jocelin has over 15 years of HR and Operations experience. Jocelin is a Co-Founder and was Chief Operating Officer for Guild Esports, which officially launched in June 2020 and by October 2020 had a $52.3 million listing on the London Stock Exchange. As COO, she led HR and business operations for this global esports business headquartered in London, UK and co-owned by David Beckham.
Paidia is breaking barriers. As a mother of two young girls, I’m proud to be working with this team, creating an inclusive gaming community where every woman, girl and ally feels safe turning their mic on!
BE SUPPORTIVE.
BE INCLUSIVE.
BE KIND.
PAIDIA GUIDES
Our #PaidiaGuides are our ambassadors that will help us lead the way on our mission of creating an inclusive gaming community
ADVISORS
Led by industry experts who are motivated to provide sophisticated solutions that encourage positive voices within the gaming community.
ERIN ASHLEY
SIMON
Advisor
She/Her
Erin Ashley Simon is a multi-media personality, host, producer, consultant, and part-owner of the new esports organization, XSET. Her love and passion for video games, sports, music, and content have helped to shape who she is today, pushing the culture forward and breaking barriers as a woman in the industry.
"Gaming is a place for everyone, and we can only make it better by all of us coming together to make it bigger and brighter than ever before."
DOHA
SOLIMAN
Advisor
She/Her
Doha has her CFA Charter and is the Finance and Operations Director at Blueridge OMS. She is an investor and advisor to multiple early-stage and established companies and is passionate about financial literacy. Doha co-founded a non-profit organization that aims to empower women through financial education and serves as Director at the Canadian Muslim Vote.
KRISTA
SPRIGGS
Advisor
She/Her
Krista is a DevOps and engineering professional with over 10 years experience in the industry. Her primary areas of focus are around that of building fault tolerant, highly available, and scalable systems/platforms with wide scale reach and traffic.
"Play As You Are"
JULIA
BECKER
Advisor
She/Her
Julia has over 10 years of experience in capital market and investor relations for various sectors including tech and gaming. Ex. Head, Investor Relations of Enthusiast Gaming (TSX/NASDAQ: EGLX ~1Bn Market Cap) Part of Go Public Team, TSX uplisting and led North American capital markets and investor relations strategy.
As a competitive athlete, I have always believed in empowering women, celebrating diversity and respecting our differences. Paidia is a safe and fun gaming community, built on those principles and provides a platform for women and allies to connect, engage, empower, and play.
AUDREY
ADAIR
Advisor
She/Her
Audrey is an industry trailblazer who helped spearhead Red Bull’s esports program in 2010 and most recently worked as the company’s head of gaming communications. With more than a decade of experience, Audrey has led communications and marketing efforts for world-class brands, including Wargaming, Pizza Hut, Gamers Outreach and more.
Everyone deserves a safe place to play. Everyone deserves to see themselves represented. It’s as simple as that.
CHRISTA
CARONE
Advisor
She/Her
Christa is a senior marketing, media and partnerships executive with expertise in building brands that operate in the center of content, community and commerce. Formerly served as a tech and finance CMO, president of a digital media company and the head of a sports and entertainment partnership firm. Christa brings broad experience in developing unique collaborations between brands and platforms.
Young women aren’t just looking to level the playing field in gaming, they also want their very own field so they can play on their terms. Paidia is all about empowering women to bring their unique voices, ambitions, creativity, drive and competitive spirit to new frontiers of gaming.
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JONATHAN
BIXBY
Co-Founder
He/Him
I am involved because I believe that women need a global gaming brand, and a connected gaming universe - created for women by women. We have the ability to change lives across the world and influence their lifelong relationship to gaming.
Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur, active angel investor, board member and speaker. He has raised over $300M USD in venture capital and has created over $2B USD in market capitalization in startup companies around the world. Jonathan has been the co-founder of 3 companies on the London Stock Exchange (ARB, CBX, GILD) and is a co-founder and board member of Leaf Mobile (LEAF.T), Canada's largest mobile game company.