Dr. Kate made her first video game when she was 14 with her best friend Helen (they’re still best friends).
Now she travels the world helping organisations rediscover the power of games and play and how they can be used for all sorts of nifty things like building better teams, fostering innovation or preparing for the future.
Dr. Kate a multi-award winning game designer, innovation facilitator, keynote speaker and explainer of the future.
She is a recognised leader in her field with more than 20 years experience working in the technology, games and innovation space.
Her work to date has been characterised by a willingness to step into unknown situations and take risks and seize opportunities that others don’t always see.
Dr. Kate has a proven ability to really move the needle for people and organisations.
This includes activating and growing the Western Australian games industry. My work with Playup Perth directly supported nearly 150 WA-made games and I also led the launch of the state’s first co-working space and funding program for the industry. My advocacy for the industry also played a key part in the the state government’s 2018 announcement of a games industry funding pilot — the first of its kind for Western Australia.
Dr. Kate has worked with a wide variety of clients across a number of industries, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Deakin University, Bankwest, RAC WA, Knowledge Week and Health Canada. She also recently advised the Western Australian government on their new STEM strategy and games industry funding pilot.
Kate has written for a variety of publications in Canada and Australia, including the Conversation and Kotaku, a top game industry news site. She has a technology and innovation column for the WA Business News and am regular contributor to Scitech’s Particle, where she covers everything from the future of work and education to the latest video game console. Her ability to identify and explain key trends in an accessible way are rewarded by her articles being among some of those most read and shared.
Dr. Kate’s won multiple international awards for her work, including being named one of the 40 under 40 in Western Australia for 2018.
She was also honoured as WAITTA Incite’s Achiever of the Year (2015/2016); the Australian Computer Society’s Digital Disruptor Professional Achiever of the Year (2016); and one of MCV Pacific’s 30 most influential women in games for three years running.
Her PhD on privacy in the age of Facebook has been in Curtin Library’s top 10 most downloaded (of all time!) list since it was published.
Ahead of its time (or just 6 years too soon), Dr. Kate’s thesis raised and explored a number of key issues that came to the fore in 2018 with Facebook, including social media depression being a thing and of course the Cambridge Analytica scandal, making her one of the go to experts on the subject.
Dr. Kate’s Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University, and a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s New Media Lab, where she previously taught. She’s a Professional Member of Professional Speakers Australia, a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an Honorary Member of the Australian Computer Society.