Susanna Pollack is the President of Games for Change, the leading global advocate for the power of games and immersive media as drivers of social impact.  In her role there, she produces the annual Games for Change Festival, the largest industry-facing gaming event in New York, dubbed by national media as “the Sundance of video games.” In 2017, Susanna also launched XR for Change to focus on building a community of practice around how VR/AR/MR technologies are offering radical new ways to improve lives.

Susanna works closely with organizations that are actively pursuing digital games and immersive media to further their public or CSR mission. For clients, including American Express, Verizon, Princeton University, AT&T, United Nations, Carnegie Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Ad Council, and Smithsonian Museum, she has initiated dozens of programs to advance the games and immersive media for good sector.

As an Executive Producer, Susanna spearheads impact media projects, bringing together award winning creators with mission oriented organizations.  Current projects include 38 Minutes a partnership with award-winning studios Archer’s Mark, Atlas V and Princeton University’s Science and Global Security Department, Oculus and MacArthur Foundation.  The XR experience highlights the issue of nuclear security risk though immersive storytelling and is scheduled to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

With a commitment to Learning and Education, Susanna also developed a portfolio of programs that advance the use of games and immersive media in learning.  She launched the G4C Student Challenge with the NYC Department of Education in 2015 which now operates in multiple cities across the country and reaches 10,000 students annually. The program has attracted world class partners including the New York Times, NYC Mayors Office, ACLU, X Prize, Truth Initiative, National Geographic to offer a games design challenge to underserved middle and high school students across the country.

Prior to Games for Change Susanna worked across both the commercial and public sector.  Over a 14 year period, Susanna held various senior level positions at BBC Worldwide Americas, most recently as SVP of the TV distribution division for the US. She was also SVP of BBC Worldwide’s Children’s where she led the strategy of all youth related initiatives in the US including channel and IP development.

Susanna lives in Fairfield, CT with her husband and her sources of creative inspiration, Isaac and Ian.