Primary Job Title CEO/Co-Founder Primary Organization Wicked Saints Studios
Location Medford, Oregon, United States Regions West Coast, Western US Gender Female Also Known As Jess Murrey
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Jess is an awarding-winning storyteller and international peacebuilder turned game designer. She is the CEO/Co-founder of W!CKED SAiNTS Studios. WS uses behavioral technology to create interactive media that is wickedly fun and actively good. They've just emerged from Niantic’s (makers of Pokémon GO) incubator with a prototype for their
game, World Reborn. World Reborn is the world's 1st adventure activism game. At its simplest, WR is an interactive story game with real-life quests that are facilitated by augmented reality.
At age 24, she received a Northwest Regional Emmy for Community Service for her lead role in “Don’t Turn Away,” an anti-child abuse media campaign. Months later, her PSA “Meth Mirror” won the Oregon Association of Broadcasters' Award for “Best PSA 2012.”
Jess spent the next four years running the global communication department for Search for Common Ground. Utilizing the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated NGO’s experience, Jess went on to train young leaders in some of the most hostile places on earth in Social Change Communication. She uses what she’s coined the “Tattoo Method” to design creative campaigns and activities that have the power to shift people’s attitudes and behaviors. She has used the framework in collaboration with local peacebuilders to develop communication strategies and awareness campaigns for projects from Kyrgyzstan to Nigeria to Myanmar to Burundi to Colombia to Boston.
Jess is an international speaker and continues to use her framework in the design and development of W!CKED SAiNTS Studios’ games. She has given keynotes at Stanford’s Positive Peace Summit, Global People’s Summit, Games for Change, Play NYC, Xprize’s Future Labs, and several universities. She has authored op-eds, including “I’m black. I’m a peacebuilder. I want your help.” and “America’s Identity Crisis: Race and Reconciliation from a Black Peacebuilder,” published in Foreign Policy. COMMON named Jess one of the top 20 social entrepreneurs to watch in 2020. The 2020 Game Awards selected Jess as a member of their "Future Class," individuals around the world who represent the bright, inclusive future of gaming. Niantic Labs selected Jess and her partner's studio, W!CKED SAiNTS, as the first team selected for Niantic's Black Developer Initiative.
