Donna "BasicTaq" Walters: Event Host and Panel Moderator

Donna “BasicTaq” Walters is deeply entrenched in the collegiate esports spaces largely due to her work with advancing grassroots initiatives for students throughout California and on a national level with her committee and ambassador work in the Esports Trade Association, CORSAIR, and non-profit organization, Leyline.  As an undergrad at Sac State, she built an award-winning campus gaming community, performed at multiple speaking engagements, and assisted premium brands such as the Big Sky Conference and California State Fair with creating personalized esports events, leagues, and tournaments.

During her graduate work, Donna founded the CSU Esports Collective and is actively working to bring together and support the 23 California State University (CSU) campus esports communities, along with the UC and CA Community College systems, through key connections, best practices, and resources needed to move forward collectively and in better alignment with campus and industry needs.  

Dr. Dina Ibrahim:  Panel Moderator

Dr. Dina Ibrahim is a Professor of Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University. She teaches video and audio news production, live streaming, esports, interviewing techniques and optimizing audio visual performance. She spent over ten years reporting and producing for the BBC World Service, United Press International, CNN & NPR. Her research interests include innovative content creation, audience identity impact, news depictions of Islam, as well as post-revolution Egypt. She is also Executive Director of the CSU Entertainment Alliance, which connects campuses to entertainment and technology companies.

John Davidson: Chair of the Esports Trade Association, Founder & CEO of DLC Youth

John Davidson, TEDx and active speaker on gaming and youth marketing, is formerly the Head of Partnerships at GameStop, currently leads esports for PRG, the world’s leading event technology company, and is Founder and CEO of Davidson Learning Company (DLC). John also serves as Chair of the Esports Trade Association, advisor for Stadia Ventures, The Uptown Agency and Dallas Influencers in Sports and Entertainment. Through a diverse career in skateboarding, video production, marketing and business development, John has a unique perspective and understanding of subcultures and consumer behavior.

Rachel Feinberg & Breanne Harrison-Pollock: Co-Founders of ATEYO

Last year, Forbes called Ateyo the ‘Nike of Esports’ and the pair won Forbes 30 under 30. Together they are on a mission to impact gaming for the future generation by creating community, opportunity, and an equal map for all.

Kahlil Keys: Director of Strategic Initiatives at Gen. G Esports

Kahlil Keys is a California native and a 2015 Yale University graduate, where participated on the Varsity Football Team and received a B.A. in Political Science. Upon graduation, Kahlil moved to New York City to pursue a career at Major League Baseball in Corporate Sponsorship Sales & Marketing. Kahlil recently started a new position as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Gen.G Esports, where he helps create integrated marketing partnerships and cause initiatives that advance the organization’s mission of building a global, inclusive, and cross-cultural future for sports entertainment.

Kahlil currently resides in Sacramento, CA with his wife Sara. Outside of work, Kahlil is passionate about supporting and empowering youth and recently launched a mentorship program for young men (Brotherhood Restored), which aims to influence and develop the next generation of leaders by implementing custom programming centered around four core pillars: Identity, Purpose, Community, and Action.

Alex Sinatra - Your Potential for Everything

Alex holds a BBA in Marketing and a JD from Texas A&M University and Texas A&M University School of Law, respectively. Her practice includes sports law, employment and corporate law, along with advising companies on their specific needs. She has been an in-house counsel for a famous sports family, a multinational company, various startups, and most recently, a professional sports team.

Along with being an attorney, Alex has worked remotely for USA TODAY Sports Media Group's NFL Wire sites since 2016 as a journalist and content producer. She provides her unique perspective on all things NFL including national anthem policies, sports betting, DE&I, and was the first female to be hired by the NFL Wire sites. Additionally, Alex has been involved in providing consultation to various esports entities and players within the industry.

She is the founder of a strategic sports consulting business that provides strategies to businesses and individuals in the sports and esports industry so they can be more productive, effective, and efficient in their respective roles. Schedule a consultation at https://www.yourpotentialforeverything.com/booknow to learn more about her services.

Gillian “Eiya” Long: World of Warcraft Championship Sideline Reporter

Gillian “Eiya” Long is an Esports Sideline Reporter and Host, a producer, a content creator, and a streamer. She graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism. She has been gaming since she was 9 years old, starting with Unreal Tournament. Eiya began her career in esports in 2016 working behind the scenes. In 2019 she started working in front of the camera and most recently has been focusing more on content creation.

Kevin Hoang: Entrepreneur, Former Program Manager at Twitch

Kevin Hoang was formerly the Program Manager at Twitch and is working on bringing esports into education. 

Hantao Yuan: Head of Gaming at Overtime

Hantao runs all of the gaming initiatives for Overtime. He's a competitive babysitting athlete.

Mark Deppe: UCI Esports Director

Mark led the effort to create the award-winning esports program at UCI. Working closely with student leaders, administrators, faculty, and industry partners, Mark built a business plan that was both cost-neutral to the university and that broadly approaches the world of esports through the five pillars of Competition, Research, Community, Entertainment, and Careers. Mark was selected to serve as the inaugural commissioner for the North America Scholastic Esports Federation, helping connect learning to student interests. In June 2018, UCI’s League of Legends team won the College League of Legends Championship. In October 2018, UCI’s esports program was awarded “Most Outstanding Collegiate Program” by the esports industry at the Tempest Awards. While at UCI, Mark has coordinated many campus traditions including helping break Guinness Book World records. Mark has a B.S. in psychobiology from UCLA and an MBA from Cal State Fullerton's College of Business and Economics.

Vivian Nguyen: Team Liquid Business Intelligence Data Manager

Vivian Nguyen is the Business Intelligence Data Manager over at Team Liquid, as well as the co-founder of Liquid Hacks, Team Liquid's hackathon event series. She is in charge of handling all data-related projects within the org, as well as EDU initiatives. Vivian's mission at Team Liquid is to give aspiring esports professionals an opportunity to showcase their skills and contribute their own value to all esports and gaming spaces.

Billy Sprout: Collegiate Esports Director at Mainline

Since founding the UConn gaming club in 2012, Billy Sprout has dedicated his life to social gaming and esports programs. That passion has given him a wide spectrum of experiences, including hundreds of hours of AAA livestream productions, live gaming events in partnership with ESPN and the Fiesta Bowl, and esports tournaments with 6-figure prize pools. To date, his tournament programs have connected students from 1,200 universities and have awarded over 3 million dollars in scholarships to students that find a balance between social gaming and individual development.

Arda Ocal: Emmy nominated anchor and host at ESPN

Hi, my name is Arda! I’m an Emmy nominated anchor and currently a host at ESPN and the voice of the NHL Gaming World Championships. I’m the son of immigrant Muslim parents from Turkey, who moved to a wonderful community just outside of Toronto. I’ve been pursuing this crazy dream of broadcasting in one form or another since 2000. Earlier in my career I hosted a morning show, in which I had the distinct honor of interviewing folks from all walks of life, including A-list celebrities and the local gardener. I also learned how to keep it cool while reporting live from the middle of deadly snow storms and floods. Since then I have hosted programs that aired in 120 countries, called world title fights, and reported live on ESPN Sportscenter. I’ve had the pleasure of hosting a variety of events, including everything from Dog grooming competitions to competitive table tennis, comic cons to video game conventions, and TED talks. Alan Thicke once told me that I have pretty eyes, and Cuba Gooding Jr. demanded I give him my socks. All in a day’s work! Other random facts about me: I’m in Mensa (it’s not as hard as you might think!), I’m often the first Muslim-Canadian broadcaster to be hired on the air at (insert station, network or global sports or entertainment brand here). I have a lovely wife, Jennifer, and a beautiful baby girl, Ayla! In my off time I’m an adjunct professor in the Sports Broadcasting Masters Program at Iona College.

Brett Lautenbach: President of NRG

Brett is currently the president of NRG. Prior to joining NRG Brett worked as an agent at WME/IMG where he consulted for brands, worked with tournament organizers, and advised on investments in the esports and gaming space. During his time at WME/IMG he worked with notable brands such as TMOBILE, BudLight, and VISA. Lautenbach is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and hails from Illinois.

NGR:  Professional Esports Team

NRG is a professional gaming and entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2015, NRG has embodied competitive esports excellence and the best of gaming culture over the last half-decade. Known for championship teams and innovative gaming lifestyle content, NRG is the most-watched org in the world on Twitch and YouTube. NRG boasts the most-viewed and storied competitive Fortnite roster in the game, the reigning world champion Rocket League team, and an Apex Legends squad with numerous national and international titles under its belt. Additionally, NRG’s Call of Duty leag​​ue team, Optic Chicago, is the CDL's most popular team, and the San Francisco Shock, the org’s Overwatch League team, is a world champion powerhouse having just won back-to-back World's Grand Finals. 

NRG's owned content channels span YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and our newly launched Snap Discover show. NRG's recently launched social gaming brand (December 2020), Full Squad Gaming, already has millions of followers on Tik Tok and is positioned to become the biggest gaming brand on the platform! Currently, the corporate owned channels reach over 25M uniques a month, fostering over 125M fan engagements. Our player channels reach an additional 75M uniques a month. 

NRG also has opened the NRG Hot Pockets Castle in Downtown Los Angeles. This innovative studio/play space is a Fantasy Factory for gamers featuring giant creative installations, studio space, scrim/stream areas and general craziness. Organization and content sponsors include Nestle, Levis, Purple Mattress, Popeyes, Roccat/Turtle Beach, National Guard, General Mills, Net App and T-Mobile.

Dr. Chris Haskell: Award-winning Head Coach for Boise State Esports

Dr. Chris Haskell is the Head Coach and Director of the Varsity Esports at Boise State, 2020 Collegiate Esports Coach of the Year (NAECAD) and 2020 Esports Director of the Year (NACE). As a professor, "Doc" also focuses on developing talented players, casters, and esports professionals. Boise State is widely considered one of the top esports programs with nationally ranked teams in Overwatch, League of Legends, and Rocket League.

Cristina Amaya: Head of Events at Team Liquid

Cristina Amaya is Head of Events at Team Liquid and runs the Events and Tournaments for the organization. She is the president of Latinx in Gaming, Vice Chair for the IGDA & a consultant for the*gameHERs. Cristina comes from a background with Unity, Twitch & more!