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OPF Boardmembers
Meet Eric Brittain, the passionate and multifaceted board president of the Organized Play Foundation. Eric's lifelong love for role-playing games began with a magical 1970s Dungeons and Dragons coloring book, and he's been hooked ever since. He brings his unique perspective and approach to the gaming community, always working to create inclusive and safe spaces for everyone at the table.
Eric's been embracing all sorts of experiences and disciplines since he was a kid. He's a dedicated martial artist, training in various styles since the age of eight. As an adult, he took that discipline and became a member of a modern dance troupe, touring around Los Angeles, doing performance art, and even landing a spot in the Nutcracker ballet after having left a coding job in the corporate world to chase his passion for dance. From helping his clients solve geeky problems, serving as a laser holography consultant to working as an assistant bouncer, and being granted the honorary title of "shepherd" by a friend, Eric's experiences are as diverse as they are fascinating. And let's not forget his decades-long love for prosthetic makeup and costuming that usually comes out to play around Halloween.
As the head of the Organized Play Foundation, Eric brings his creative problem-solving skills to the table and isn't afraid to implement quick fixes when needed. He's a big believer in the power of collaboration and open communication, and he navigates hierarchies like a pro to bring people together. Eric's always eager to learn more and values courtesy and diplomacy in his interactions with others.
With Eric at the helm, the Organized Play Foundation has a well-rounded and dedicated leader who's all about creating safe and meaningful opportunities for others in the gaming world.
David started playing Dungeons & Dragons in 1981 when his grandmother gave him the Basic Set for Christmas. He's been actively involved in the hobby of roleplaying ever since, GMing hundreds of games, organizing conventions, and writing over two dozen modules for TSR, Wizards of the Coast, and R. Talsorian Games. He helped design one of the first massively multiplayer online role-playing games, Asheron's Call.
Outside of the hobby, David is a retired tech executive passionate about making the Internet a more fair, just, and safe place. He spent 16 years at Google, his final role as Engineering Director leading the engineering organization for Google Trust & Safety, abuse fighting and user trust experts ensuring user safety. Before that, David directed teams in parts of Google as varied as Cloud, YouTube, and Ads engineering. Prior to joining Google, David worked at EarthLink, Excite@Home, BBN, and Turbine Games. David graduated with a degree in Biology from Brown University in 1994.
Marty has been in the tech industry since his high school days in Western Kentucky. While his collegues were flipping burgers and working at your normal early 90s teenager jobs, Marty worked for a local computer store engineering networks running WindowsNT, Novell Netware and working with early technologies. Over the past 30+ years, Marty has worked for large a small companies alike from being a Sales Engineer to Director of IT.
In 2022, Marty started his second IT services company named Rudio, to support the small Managed Services Provider in there effort to protect there clients against ever increasing cyber attacks. In his spare time, Marty still plays various TTRPGs and video gaming.
Steven began his roleplaying journey upon uncovering his mother’s Dungeons & Dragons basic rules set from deep in the kitchen junk drawer. Since then, he has helped write rules systems and organize games for both tabletop and live action roleplaying. Steven began volunteering for Paizo’s Pathfinder Organized Play program in 2015 as a venture lieutenant. Later that year, he was battlefield promoted to venture captain of Southern California’s Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties where he served until joining the OPF Board. In his fake life, Steven professes at Cal Poly Pomona in the College of Business Administration and routinely authors journal articles and books on subjects like financial literacy, legal aspects of real estate investing, and financial professional misconduct. He is honored to apply this knowledge and expertise in service to the Board.
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Jess started playing ttrpgs 20 years ago when a soon-to-be friend invited them to join a D&D 3.5 game. They spent 4.5 years serving as a Venture-Officer in Paizo Organized Play before stepping down to serve on the OPF board this year. Outside gaming, they spent their time working towards and in the fields of paleontology and museum science as a researcher, collections manager, and mentor to student interns. They've always had a passion for nature, and enjoy inspiring others to appreciate it. They recently began working as a seasonal naturalist at a state park and started a side gig doing mostly nature-informed ttrpg and mini-hobby art, writing, and teaching. You can find them online under the alias DeadGators, or in-person tucked away in the Indiana woods with their husband, Bob, and their four cats, Tali, Desna, Consequences, & Repercussions, probably looking at a bug or something.
A former Magic the Gathering card sharp, Rand has spent the past 16 years engaged in tabletop role playing games. He is a frequent contributor to Paizo’s messageboards, using the handle Painlord. In his fake life, Rand has served as a professional fundraiser for close to 30 years, supporting hospice care, hospital programs, the American Red Cross, and others. He worked on Wikipedia’s professional fundraising campaigns and helped build their fundraising infrastructure. For the past 12 years, he has mostly fundraised for Animal Welfare nonprofits in California. He and his wife are graciously allowed to live with three cats in their San Francisco apartment in exchange for meals and massage services to the feline owners.
Jon has been playing Magic the Gathering since it was released 30 years ago, and playing tabletop RPGs even longer. He retired early from Wizards of the Coast, where he was Director of Software Engineering, managing teams supporting global organized play of Magic with web, iOS and Android apps. He was previously at Microsoft, IBM, and multiple successful startups.
He is working also on a couple other TTRPG projects, including mobile power tools for GMs and players, and a massive, open-source game world setting.
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