Institute of Play Team

Katie Salen
Executive Director
Katie Salen is the Executive Director of the Institute of Play, and Associate Professor in the Design and Technology program, Parsons the New School for Design. Co-author of Rules of Play, a textbook on game design, as well as The Game Design Reader (MIT Press, 2004 and 2006), she recently completed an edited volume for the MacArthur series on Digital Media and Learning called The Ecology of Games and is serving as co-editor of The International Journal of Learning and Media (MIT Press). Katie just completed a stint as lead designer on Gamestar Mechanic, a game developed by Gamelab to teach young people the play and practice of game design fundamentals. She lectures and writes extensively on game design, design education, and game culture, including authoring some of the first dispatches from the previously hidden world of machinima. Website http://www.gamersmob.com

Leah Gilliam
Director of Projects
Leah Gilliam is a artist, designer and facilitator, who is fascinated by the transformative power of play. Leah has a rich history creating media art and designing user experiences and has worked with everything from board games and big games to experimental video and wearable technologies. Until she left to pursue her love of game design in 2006, Leah was an Associate Professor of Electronic Arts at Bard College as well as the Chair of the Arts Division. As Director of Projects of the Institute of Play’s Q2L portfolio, Leah is drawn to the vitality and potential of both formal and informal learning spaces. A 2008 graduate of NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, Leah is also a winner of a Tisch School of the Art’s Dean’s Fellowship. Leah's recent projects include Lesberation, a board game inspired by the rebellious beginnings of the gay-rights movement and Set || Clear || Limits, a presentation exploring the impact of design and technological constraints on artist/engineer collaborations in the 1970s.

Rebecca Rufo-Tepper
Co-Director of Curriculum, Instruction
and Professional Development
Rebecca has been working in the New York City public school system for ten years. After receiving a master’s degree in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, she taught high school and middle school English and Social Studies for seven years in Brooklyn and Manhattan. In addition, she was a staff developer at East Side Middle School, a public school in Manhattan, for two years. She is professional development facilitator for the Holocaust Educators Network in New York City and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. Rebecca’s research has focused on professional development and school reform. She has presented her work at national conferences, including NCTE, NMSA, and ISCHE. Recently, Rebecca was an adjunct instructor of English Education in Hunter College's Curriculum and Teaching Department and worked with Pam Grossman at Stanford University on a research project on New York City ELA teachers. Rebecca completed her PhD in Urban Education in May 2009.

Arana Shapiro
Co-Director of Curriculum, Instruction
and Technology Integration
Arana has been working in the field of education for ten years. Her first teaching position was in the Inglewood Public School District, where she taught for three years. In Inglewood, Arana served on the district curriculum review team, helping to develop and implement new curriculum in this small district. Upon moving to New York City, Arana began working at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University’s Early Childhood Education Program. At TC, Arana helped develop the Early Childhood Education department’s new student teacher program by visiting New York City public school classrooms and finding appropriate placement and mentorship for TC students. It was during her work at Teachers College when Arana began working with a group of educators to develop curriculum for a new school, The School at Columbia University and subsequently became a founding faculty member of The School in 2003. Arana's desire to bring new media technologies into the classroom prompted her to migrate from the classroom to the technology team at The School and later to the Lead Educational Technologist position at the Ross Institute, where she integrated technology into K-12 classrooms at both The Ross School in East Hampton and Ross Global Academy Charter School. In addition, Arana was a reading specialist for Groundwork for Youth in East New York Public Schools. She has presented research at many national education conferences, including AERA and NCTM. She received her Masters of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Second Language Learning and Acquisition from Pepperdine University, and did coursework in TC’s Communication and Education program. Currently, Arana is pursuing her Master’s in School Leadership from Bank Street.

Evonne Tsang
Director of Business
As Director of Business, Evonne handles everything from human resources and bookkeeping to research and event planning for the Institute of Play. She has worked in Human Resources for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Barnes & Noble College Bookstores. As a native New Yorker fortunate enough to have attended some great public schools, she is very excited about taking part in developing innovative public education experiences for others. She has a B.A. in English with a minor in Creative Writing from NYU. She has written an interactive children's book combining prose and comic book pages that is scheduled for publication in Fall 2009. She is an avid practitioner of Google-fu and thinks wearing jeans to work is pretty keen.