About Us

President, Board of Directors

In a career spanning a period of immense change in global society, Jon has worked with young, creative student leaders in schools across the country teaching English, entrepreneurship, history, game design, Latin and philosophy. Jon has hired and helped develop the professional talents of highly talented educators who have gone on to develop innovative programs in their schools. His book on gamified instruction, Level Up Your Classroom, was published in 2016.

Vice President, Board of Directors

Mr. Adamo has worked in both the public and private sector helping people better understand behavior. Most of his time has been spent in education, working as a behavior specialist teaching behavioral aides and administrators to set up their students for success. Mr. Adamo is a big believer in approaching with a question and not judgement. You can find him teaching classes during his day job and running fun and educational RPGs for children and adults alike in his off time.

Treasurer, Board of Directors

Secretary, Board of Directors

Gregory believes in the impact of collaboration on creativity and that tabletop games allow us to shape stories together. He founded Electi Studio to build a better creative process that makes legendary games. You can find him neck-deep in InDesign and Photoshop designing books and websites or whatever else he thinks is rad.

Board Member

Founder, Executive Director

Whether as a teacher in the classroom, an athletics coach, a summer camp director, or as the lead Educator-Gamemaster for The Game Academy, for more than two decades Bert has harnessed his passion for education to guide students toward their best selves. With a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University, Bert brings his knowledge of child development and education, as well as his deep understanding of storytelling to bear when working with the diverse population of students who attend The Game Academy's programs. Additionally, Bert's 30+ years of experience as a Gamemaster and player of RPGs help him excel in designing and implementing interactive storytelling games that educate, engage and inspire.

Board Member

Ryan Alan Jones has been playing TTRPGs since cutting his teeth on 3rd Edition D&D in 2004. He loves the golden age of TTRPGs that we find ourselves in and is excited by the myriad of small developers that are producing niche games today. Current favorites include His Majesty the Worm,  Land of Eem, Mothership, and Heart: The City Beneath. During the day he is a coach and organizational consultant, is studying for his Doctorate of Education in Coaching and Leadership, and is raising a daughter, Lyla Rose, with his wife, Elizabeth.

Board Member

Award-winning teacher and designer Kathleen Mercury, M.A.T., M.E.T., has been pushing the boundaries of using design thinking to merge game design and instruction from elementary to collegiate levels for over 20 years. Kathleen is a published tabletop game designer (Greece Lightning 2021) with more titles upcoming. She shares all of her game design teaching resources at www.kathleenmercury.com for free, and is a frequent collaborator with education and game industry professionals to create innovative experiences and instruction, with past clients including Riot Games, Catan Studio, and Guardian Adventures.

Board Member

Fiona Rene is a TV/Film actor who originated in the theatre, more specifically, interactive theatre. After many years directing interactive theatre performances and teaching her "Method for Being" workshops all over the world, Fiona realised the potential of what interactive storytelling and RPG's can do for so many. Fiona joined the Board of the Game Academy in 2019 and is honored to be a part of the work TGA does.

Educator, Gamemaster

Adamo has worked in both the public and private sector helping people better understand behavior. Most of his time has been spent in education, working as a behavior specialist teaching behavioral aides and administrators to set up their students for success. Mr. Adamo is a big believer in approaching with a question and not judgement. You can find him teaching classes during his day job and running fun and educational RPGs for children and adults alike in his off time.

Educator, Gamemaster

Adam is a freelance writer, editor, and theater critic from Oakland. He's been gaming since the age of six and declines to say how many years that's been, but there will be more.

Educator, Gamemaster

Brynn Fields is an artist, game designer, and experienced D&D Gamemaster. She loves doing silly voices, doodling characters, and tugging on heartstrings with her stories. With over a decade of tabletop gaming experience under her belt, she brings a deep understanding of improvisation to every game she runs.

Founder, Executive Director

Whether as a teacher in the classroom, an athletics coach, a summer camp director, or as the lead Educator-Gamemaster for The Game Academy, for more than two decades Bert has harnessed his passion for education to guide students toward their best selves. With a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University, Bert brings his knowledge of child development and education, as well as his deep understanding of storytelling to bear when working with the diverse population of students who attend The Game Academy's programs. Additionally, Bert's 30+ years of experience as a Gamemaster and player of RPGs help him excel in designing and implementing interactive storytelling games that educate, engage and inspire.

Educator, Gamemaster

Evie is an impassioned nerd, writer and game developer who loves most of all to co-create worlds, characters and stories with others. Her games center cooperative decision making and creative agency among players. Evie values the way role playing games can heighten emotions, and holds space for appropriate processing within table communities. In her spare time, Evie loves to cook, code, and play Magic the Gathering.

Educator, Gamemaster

Kate plays and GMs a lot of tabletop games; from D&D to Lancer to Honey Heist. A game designer, she loves to see players engage with her puzzles in novel and interesting ways. She’s worked on her own tabletop module before and plans to do more in the future.

Educator, Gamemaster

Byron grew up playing games with his grandfather, and learned Dungeons and Dragons from his friends in Middle School. Since then, he's played, GMed, written modules, and lived the world of roleplaying games. His favorite systems are FATE, Genesys, and Legend of the Five Rings. His other hobbies include making board games, playing video games, and drawing.