At the Inven Global Esports Conference on June 4th in Irvine California, women working in all manner of industry jobs are coming together discuss the lessons they have learned from their careers. "The Female Faces of Esports" panel focuses on women who are figure heads in our community; as players, streamers, and hosts they are often faces of an industry in which they are the minority.



▲ Image Source: Michele Morrow

If you are a young man looking to get into the industry, the number of people you could potentially look up to or gain mentorship from extremely high. Meanwhile, if you are a woman looking to enter the industry, the quantity of mentors is lower. On top of that, mentorship from a man, while useful, will likely feature many blindspots as the industry treats women very differently.



This panel is about highlighting the journey. How did these women climb their way through the esports / gaming industry? What did these women learn along the way? What are some of the realities that men in the audience don't understand about being a women in gaming? How did they find themselves on this career path, and what steps do organizations need to take in order to serve a growing female esports fanbase?



The speakers on this panel have been forged in the fires of the early years of the esports industry and have enjoyed success in multiple verticals across both esports and gaming. The eclectic array of panelists will cover all of the bases of working as a woman in esports, as well as ruminate on the ways esports can connect more optimally with the ever-growing female esports fanbase.





Host, voice actor, and content creator Michele Morrow will bring an array of insights to the panel. Her experience in working with Blizzard on both World of Warcraft and Hearthstone as a voice actor, as well as creating scripted esports show Good Game, Morrow’s understanding of the navigation of the esports industry is rich and diverse.



Kat Gunn will be a speaker on the panel to provide the perspective of a successful Twitch streamer and gaming influencer. Games journalist and multimedia powerhouse Sofia Hariz will also be featured as a speaker to give insight from the frontlines of the press frontier.



Sofia is an accomplished video game journalist and film critic, whose work has been featured in publications around the world for the past 5 years, including Norway, England, Sweden and the United States. As a journalist, Sofia has experience as a writer, on-air host, speaker and video producer, and has appeared on several podcasts, streams and online shows, as well as reported on national television.



Her work has been featured by outlets such as Gamereactor, Easy Allies, Fanbyte, DLC Podcast, Machinima, Moviepilot, TV2 and more. She also currently works freelance as a video editor and photographer.



Last but certainly not least is Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey. The Canadian video game developer will not only bring knowledge and experience from her time at Ubisoft Montreal, but has enjoyed an extensive career as a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. In 2015, missharvey signed with Counter Logic Gaming Red and remained a member through March 2019, winning five world championships in the female Global Offensive circuit.







Host and gaming merch maven Mandie Roman will be moderating the panel. The conversation will center around how the industry can change for the better from the perspective of insiders who have seen it all, and is a must-attend for any woman looking to build a career in the esports industry.



“The Female Faces of Esports” will take place in the Emerald Bay meeting room of the UCI Conference Center at 11:00am. You can learn more about the panels and IGEC 2019 here: https://www.invenglobal.com/igec/panels



IGEC 2019 will be held at the University of California Irvine Conference Center on Tuesday, June 4, 2019. Get your tickets now! bit.ly/2J4QGce