Arwen Kathke - Statement on winning 2025 GAMA Insprirations Award

March 4, 2025 - Sunday night at GAMA Expo in Louisville, KY, I was announced as one of the winners of a 2025 GAMA Inspirations award, an award given to both members and non-members for their contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion in tabletop gaming.  I have so many thoughts and feelings that I’m still processing right now, but the main one is joy.

First, I want to add that while there are many organizations that are stepping back from their inclusion efforts, GAMA has decided to show their commitment through continuing programs like the Horizons fellowship, DEI committee initiatives, and the Inspirations awards.  They don’t get everything right by any means, but I’m very appreciative of the fact that they are continuing programming to advance diversity in the industry.  It looks a lot different than it did even 6-7 years ago and I think we’re in a much better place now than we were.

Much like me during my transition, the Cardboard Time Podcast has evolved over its 5 ½ year run.  I’ve learned, grown, and focused on what was most important.  I started Cardboard Time as an initiative to just talk about the games that I was playing to the world and reintroduce myself to the hobby, where I told myself I was not going to talk about anything related to my transition (“It’s just about the games, right?”)

While I was trying to grow my channel, I was asked by Aaron from Boards Alive, who provided me with a great deal of insight and inspiration as my mentor, “What did I want my podcast to be?”.  It was always the question in those days that I had the hardest time answering.  After all, there were plenty of people doing podcasts where they just covered games, what was going to make Cardboard Time different?

There were three things that stood out to me: my shelf of aspiration (Thanks to Tiffany Leigh for help on the perspective shift), my issues with color vision (Thanks to Brian Chandler for really highlighting the work that I could do in talking about games), and my lived experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and its intersection with the board game community.  The more I thought about it, those three things shaped my personal experience in the hobby and really couldn’t be separated.  While we can absolutely focus on games as the main topic, the way in which we experience them with others is what truly makes this hobby so much different than others, so the thought of trying to cleanly separate lived experience from gaming became harder justify.  I don’t often get direct feedback being a podcast but hearing things like “I can have hope that my trans kid is going to be okay in the world by hearing your confidence” or “I can understand the issues my colorblind friends face in playing certain games” still hit me so very hard every single time I hear them.  During the darker times where thoughts creep in that what I do doesn’t matter, these comments pick me up and remind me that maybe, just maybe, it might help someone.

I contend that I get the absolute privilege of working alongside some of the most amazingly passionate and creative people on the planet.  For those who welcomed me into the industry and built my confidence in the hobby, from Andrew Chesney, Carla Kopp, and Helaina Cappel to so many others, I am eternally grateful.   For those who laid the foundation for me to be able to have a voice considering there was a time not long ago where women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community didn’t have platforms without ridiculous amounts of harassment, thank you for paving the way for us.  For those who have taken the time to talk with me and share your story, you have made me a better person.  For those looking to step up and have a voice in the industry, let me know how I can help you.

I’ve seen the world be incredibly cruel.  We’re living in it right now in innumerable ways.  But I’ve also seen people be incredibly kind as well.  My point in telling you this story is that even incredibly small acts of speaking up and being authentic can have such large effects on people.  Play may seem like a waste of time in the world that we’re living in today, but sitting at a table with others builds community, empathy, and understanding for those who seek to truly digest the words of the people that they’re sitting at the table with.  In some cases, it might just be enough to keep someone going to the next day, and I think that’s an incredibly powerful tool.  If a trans woman with a microphone can make a small difference with a sometimes-rambling podcast, you can do it too.