Tabletop Diversity Foundation

Diversity Scholarship Program

The IGDN Tabletop Diversity Foundation (iTDF) supports emerging tabletop game developers from historically marginalized backgrounds, in order to make tabletop games as a medium and industry more just, equitable, and accessible.

• Scholarship Program
• Fundraising
• The Team
• Contact

Scholarship Program

What will the program look like in 2026? As in the past, the Diversity Sponsorship will be awarded to a number of emerging designers from historically marginalized backgrounds. Recipients will receive support tailored to their specific objectives, whether that’s building their skills, getting a project across the finish line, or something else entirely.Also as in the past, the Diversity Sponsorship will consist of three main pillars: access to mentorship, a grant, and optional support to attend a convention.

Mentorship

Mentorship is the heart of the Diversity Sponsorship program, probably the most important part of the program. Recipients will share their mentorship needs when applying, and our ability to match recipients to great mentors will be a huge part of the selection process for recipients. We want every single recipient to get a mentor who’s right for them.Every recipient will work with a mentor for a period of four months, at a pace and manner that works for them. Both mentor and recipient will check in periodically with the Board, and recipients will be invited to optional social and enrichment activities.

Grant

In addition to mentorship, every recipient will receive a grant of $1,000 USD, no strings attached or questions asked. It’s not enough money to quit your dayjob, but it is enough to hire an artist or editor, to fund a small print run, or maybe just to make life a little less hectic so you have more space for your work. The grant portion of the Diversity Sponsorship is the recipient’s to use however they see fit.

Convention (Optional)

Attending a convention–especially with support, as a GM or featured guest–can be an invaluable experience for an emerging designer, a chance to connect with peers and players, share your own ideas, and get your game in front of eager players.In the past, the IGDN has partnered with the organizers of Metatopia to bring as a capstone activity; Metatopia is an amazing convention for emerging designers, and we are excited to continue that partnership in 2026! However, traveling to a convention, particularly in the United States, poses more challenges now than ever before.With this in mind, the Board is working to setup up additional partnerships with conventions outside the US. And we want to build the other pillars of the program strong enough that, if a recipient is not able to attend a convention, they’ll still have a complete experience.

• Back

About The Team

Allison Cole
Allison Cole is a designer from Montreal with an MFA from NYU, focusing on intimacy and LARP. She is a cofounder of Soft Chaos Cooperative. She began her career as an event planner organizing several national queer conferences and has a lifelong passion for mentorship and pedagogy.

James Kerr
James Kerr is a publisher, broadcaster, Indie Groundbreaker nominated table-top RPG designer, and arcade champ from rural Ontario. James has spent most of his career in non-profit organizations and on their boards, running the gamut of fading media from newspapers, to magazines, to community radio. James champions diversity at every turn. Currently he sits as the Membership Coordinator for the Indie Game Developer Network. James believes that the next great imagination could be you.

Dora Rogers
Dora Rogers is a queer and trans writer and game designer in Montreal, QC. Her work is interested in domesticity, intimacy, flirtation, femininity, and being gay as hell. She is a career technology project manager and brings extensive experience as a volunteer organizer to the board.

• Back

Fundraising

Across all three pillars, the iTDF’s primary objective is that every recipient has an excellent experience that fosters their enthusiasm for tabletop games and helps advance their art and career. Meeting that goal will require energy, skill, and of course, money.Our goal for 2026 is a cohort of 5 sponsorship recipients, but we will only accept as many recipients as we are absolutely sure we can give excellent support. Each $1,500 USD that we are able to raise will fund a recipient's experience; that means our overall goal is $7,500 USD.We have a plan to reach that amount. It starts with asking our community for support, and we will be running a GoFundMe campaign starting November 6. **The IGDN leadership board has agreed to match the first $3,000 of donations we raise on this campaign ** and the amazing IGDN community has donated some stellar games that will be given as a thank you to donors who give at certain levels.In addition, we are looking for corporate sponsors from across the industry to help support the emerging designers who will make tabletop games a vital and exciting medium for years to come.Please contact us if you are interested in becoming a sponsor.

• Back