Spawn On Me with Kahlief Adams: A Video Game Podcast · Spawn On Me LLC

How the IGDA Foundation is helping the developers of the future.

·37 min·3 clips

How the IGDA Foundation raised $40,000 by getting developers to donate DLC sales on Steam.

This episode of Spawn On Me features host Kahlief Adams interviewing Alyssa Wallace, the executive director of the IGDA Foundation, at the DICE 2026 conference. Wallace explains the foundation is a U.S. charitable organization separate from the IGDA, focused on supporting underrepresented individuals entering the games industry. Its flagship initiative is Questline Online, a six-week virtual program that has recently served about 70 people from over 36 countries annually. The foundation serves three distinct cohorts: International Scholars (students or recent graduates), Velocity (career-changers from other industries), and Next Gen Leaders (emerging industry leaders). A key challenge Wallace highlights is helping participants find jobs in a difficult market, prompting discussions about potential studio incubators if more funding were available. The foundation selects applicants who already demonstrate community engagement, aiming to create a "ripple effect" of support; alumni have started similar nonprofits and a Producers Guild mentorship program. A memorable program element is mock interviews where Next Gen Leaders gain experience by interviewing Scholars and Velocity participants in a safe, structured environment. Wallace shifted the foundation's focus to be 70% international participants, a reversal from its earlier U.S.-centric model. To address funding shortages after corporate support declined in 2023, she launched a "Download for Charity" Steam event, which raised over $40,000 from 24 participating developers in its first year. The foundation is expanding its in-person support beyond GDC, helping grantees attend events like Africa Games Week and Gamescom, and partnering with initiatives like Xbox Game Camp. Wallace actively collaborates with other organizations like Black in Gaming, Women in Games International, and Girls Make Games for events and career fairs. She advises newcomers to join game jams, research organizations with similar goals, and critically learn to decode job postings to identify transferable skills. The conversation is informal, hopeful, and grounded in Wallace's extensive industry networking experience and personal history with the DICE conference. Listeners interested in games industry diversity, international development scenes, or nonprofit strategies will find this episode valuable. Those seeking deep game critiques or developer interviews on specific titles may want to skip it.

As heard by us

A clear look at how the foundation kept its work moving when corporate support dried up.

This DICE 2026 conversation keeps its focus on how the foundation held its footing after corporate support thinned in 2023. Alyssa Wallace recalls 2022 as a year when a deal arrived quickly and for more than expected, then sets that against the sharp drop that followed.

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Why you'd press play

You want the DICE 2026 funding story behind the people helping developers get into the dev space.

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