Ukie appoints three new consultants

Games industry trade body Ukie has welcomed three new members onto its team. Industry consultants Vanessa Joyce (pictured centre) and Marie-Claire Isaaman (pictured left) join to support and scale Ukie’s mission as well as work on special projects, while Laura Martin (pictured right) has been appointed to Ukie’s Digital Schoolhouse initiative.

Joyce, who takes on the role of corporate relations and strategic partnerships consultant after a decade in the industry, will build on Ukie’s partnerships and reach with businesses outside the games industry. She will also be responsible for building support for Ukie’s existing ambitions, and will work jointly with Isaaman on various projects.

Women in Games’ CEO Isaaman, meanwhile, has been appointed as Ukie’s diversity and education research consultant to support its gender and wider diversity research insight. She’ll also be furthering Ukie’s education projects, such as its student membership, and growing the Digital Schoolhouse initiative, which is powered by PlayStation and other industry supporters.

Martin, who joins Ukie from theInstitute of Direct and Digital Marketing,will also be adding her expertise to its Digital Schoolhouse initiative following last year’s nationwide expansion to 29 schools across the UK.

Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, said of the new appointments: I’m pleased we can bring the expertise of Vanessa and Marie-Claire along with their extensive knowledge, ideas and networks, to help scale the ambitions of Ukie on behalf of the UK games industry. Laura’s digital marketing expertise will be hugely beneficial to the Digital Schoolhouse project at this important nationwide expansion period. They are all well-respected and talented and their experience will be a critical part of the Ukie team and our mission.”

Joyce commented:"I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work on this innovative new project with Ukie. We have an ambitious agenda and I feel really excited to see what can be achieved in the coming months…Watch this space".

Martinadded: Moving from marketing into the games industry, I’m really is excited to help bridge the gap between Education, Creative and Tech sectors so we can continue to inspire the future generation of digital creative talent and revolutionise the teaching and perception of computing in schools.”

Isaamanstated: I am extremely excited to begin work with Ukie as an Education, Diversity & Research consultant. I look forward to contributing my experience and knowledge in these fields to a wide range of projects and in developing new bodies of research for the sector to support, grow and promote the UK games and interactive industry.”