Donna Prior, Executive Director (they/them)
Donna is the Community Director at Catan Studio and is the Executive Director of OrcaCon. They have spoken about building communities, diversity, harassment, and accessibility at the Game Developers Conference, PAX / PAXDev, Gen Con, Mensa AGs, NorWesCon, and the Community Manager Conference in Leipzig, Germany. Donna is a gamer and a food geek, often combining both hobbies while teaching new people to game and eat tasty nomz. They also insists they are NOT a Hobbit. You can follow Donna on Twitter: @_Danicia_. Find them also here: https://linktr.ee/Danicia
Tanya DePass, DEI Consultant (she/her)
Tanya DePass is the founder and Director of I Need Diverse Games, a non-profit organization based in Chicago, which is dedicated to better diversification of all aspects of gaming. I Need Diverse Games serves the community by supporting marginalized developers attend the Game Developer Conference by participating in the GDC Scholarship program, helps assist attendance at other industry events, and is seeking partnership with organizations and initiatives. Tanya is a lifelong Chicagoan who loves everything about gaming, #INeedDiverseGames spawn point, and wants to make it better and more inclusive for everyone. She’s part of the Rivals of Waterdeep live play stream on twitch.tv/dnd, a partnered Twitch variety broadcaster; and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality & other topics at conventions.
Steve Hobbs, Advisory Board Member (he/him)
When Steve’s not supervising state and local elections as Washington’s Secretary of State, he loves to spend his free time reading comic books with his boys or playing Axis and Allies with his friends. Steve’s happy to volunteer his time to help make OrcaCon a success.
Ben Evans, Venue Coordinator (he/him)
This is Ben. He’s super busy with a game launch. He’s got no time for bios, even though he’s a rad dude. It’s because he’s awesome, that we’re writing this out for him.
Paul Anderson, Treasurer (he/him)
When Paul volunteered at the first OrcaCon he knew nothing about board games or conventions. He just wanted to help his friends make a thing and really liked how OrcaCon was focused on inclusiveness and diversity. Now he’s a board member, plays D&D weekly, is a host of the Geeks of Cascadia podcast/YouTube channel, and loves all kinds of tabletop gaming.
Board Members Emeritus
Barry Wilson, Head of Games (he/him)
Born of Hippies in the uncharted backwoods of the Pacific Northwest, Barry Wilson was literally raised by wolves. He is often found in the company of cats, and is known to be handy with tools of all sorts. Among his passions are games, sharing his love of gaming with others, and general shenanigans. He currently resides in Greater Pugetopolis, equidistant from sea, mountains, forest, and the hustle and bustle of city life.
Chip Nolan, Design Coordinator (she/her)
Chip has been volunteering for conventions for decades now, and she considers working at nerdy events as part of who she is. Also part of her identity is being a mom to a toddler, and being a freelance graphic designer. She contributes her time and talents to OrcaCon by running the graphic design team (She made the original OrcaCon logo!)