We are Game Design and Art Collaboration (GDA)! Founded in January 2015 by a small group of UC Santa Cruz students, our mission is to promote the collaborative work of artists, musicians, programmers, and game designers, with an emphasis on networking and skill-sharing. That involves a few programs:
Mock Studio: Students pitch and then develop game(s) that we work on as a community. The Mock Studio is great for learning about the process and production of game-making from start to finish. As a nice bonus, students who work on these games have something to add to their resume at the end of the school year!
Workshops: We run a variety of workshops and game jams, separate from Mock Studio, to build game development skills.
2025-26 GDA Officers
GDA’s officers work through the year (yes, even when school isn’t in session) to keep the lights on for new and returning members. Our team this year:
Ivy Dudzik (she/her)
President
Saira Hamid (she/any)
Mock Studio Coordinator
Gabe Ahrens (he/him)
Chief Operating Officer
Mandy Xie (she/they/he)
Vice President, Art Officer
Ronan Tsoi (he/him)
Vice President, Production Officer
Robin Medina (she/her)
Design Officer
Sam Spivey (he/they)
Sound Officer
Kait Srivastav (she/her)
Programming Officer
Joelle Kaufman (she/her)
Writing Officer
Tien Le (she/he/they)
Marketing Manager
Torrey Spear (she/her)
Outreach Officer
Sofia Aminifard (she/her)
Webmaster
Jared Nussbaum (he/him)
Mock Studio Coordinator
John Sai (he/him)
Treasurer
Madison Navarro (she/her)
Art Officer
Danica Dancel Carlos (she/any)
Production Officer
Aegis Michael (she/her)
Design Officer
Jade Sells (she/they)
Sound Officer
Hunter Kingsley (he/him)
Programming Officer
Jason Rangel-Martinez (he/him)
Writing Officer
Catherine Head (she/her)
Event Coordinator
Previous Officers
2024-25
- Alexa Medina: 2024-25 Vice President, Design Officer
- Dylan Mahler: 2024-25 Logistics Officer
- Emily Tran: 2024-25 Events Coordinator
- Ethan Yoshino: 2024-25 Design Officer
- Evan Lake: 2024-25 Programming Officer
- Gabe Ahrens: 2024-25 Sound Officer
- Garrett Blake: 2024-25 Chief Operating Officer
- Jared Nussbaum: 2024-25 Programming Officer
- Joe Gibson: 2024-25 Writing Officer
- Joelle Kaufman: 2024-25 Community Manager
- Jonah Ryan: 2024-25 President
- Juliana Luu: 2024-25 Community Manager
- Juno Cheng: 2024-25 Production Officer
- Sammy Chang: 2024-25 Shadow Officer
- Sai Hamid: 2024-25 Outreach Officer
- Savannah Burch: 2024-25 Art Officer
2023-24
- Athena Patronas: 2023-24 Art Officer
- Celine Lafosse: 2023-24 Writing Officer
- Gloria Chim: 2023-24 Vice President/Art Officer
- Jane Grantham: 2023-24 Vice President/Production Officer, 2022-23 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Jessica Yoon: 2023-24 Design Officer
- Nicholas Schetman: 2023-24 Treasurer
- Rohan Venkatapuram: 2023-24 Webmaster
- Seren Becker: 2023-24 Writing Officer
- Tatiana Lucero: 2023-24 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Tiana Chamsi: 2023-24 President
- Tori Moore: 2023-24 Design Officer
- Tyler Knowlton: 2023-24 Chief Operating Officer
- Vinh Ta: 2023-24 Sound Officer
2022-23
- Andrew Dunne: 2020-22 Vice President, 2020-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Annalivia Martin Straw: 2022-23 Vice President, Outreach Officer
- Annie Zhang: 2021-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Calex Raffield: 2022-23 Programming Officer
- Jane Grantham: 2023-24 Vice President/Production Officer, 2022-23 Mock Studio Coordinator
- Neo Zhang: 2022-23 Design Officer
- Parmpreet Gill: 2021-23 Sound Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Robert Newlin: 2021-22 Mock Studio Coordinator, 2022-23 President
- Ryan McCarty: 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Sophie Martin: 2022-23 Community Manager
2021-23
- Annie Zhang: 2021-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Autumn Moulios: 2021-23 Sound Officer
- Nik Thomas: 2021-23 Design Officer
- Parmpreet Gill: 2021-23 Sound Officer, 2022-23 Vice President
- Zoey Laytart: 2021-23 Production Officer
2021-22
- Cameron Beattie: 2021-22 Design Officer
- Eric Long: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator, 2021-22 President
- Joshua Augenstein: 2021-22 Programming Officer
- Naman Bushan: 2021-22 Logistics Officer/Treasurer
- Robert Newlin: 2021-22 Mock Studio Coordinator, 2022-23 President
- Ryoma Marta-Sugawara: 2020-21 Webmaster, 2021-22 Vice President/Production Officer
2020-22
- Andrew Dunne: 2020-22 Vice President, 2020-23 Art Officer, 2022-23 Writing Officer
- Molly Thompson: 2020-22 Writing Officer
- Stevie Rodriguez: 2020-22 Writing Officer
2020-21
- Dallas Truong: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator
- Enrico Widodo: 2020-21 Sound Officer
- Eric Long: 2020-21 Production Officer/Outreach Coordinator/Event Coordinator, 2021-22 President
- Herman Wu: 2020-21 Art Officer
- Jeven Zarate-McCoy: 2019-20 Vice President/Writing Lead, 2020-21 President/Writing Officer
- Justin Hammer: 2019-21 Treasurer, 2020-21 Archivist
- Niko Sanchez: 2020-21 Design Officer/Community Manager
- Ricky Chavez: 2020-21 Design Officer
- Ryoma Marta-Sugawara: 2020-21 Webmaster, 2021-22 Vice President/Production Officer
- Thomas Applewhite: 2019-20 Webmaster, 2020-21 Programming Officer
2019-21
- Holly Cheng: 2019-21 Art Lead/Officer
- Justin Hammer: 2019-21 Treasurer, 2020-21 Archivist
2019-20
- Charles Miller: 2019-20 Production Lead/Archivist/Outreach Coordinator
- Gigi Bachtel: 2019-20 Design Lead
- Jeven Zarate-McCoy: 2019-20 Vice President/Writing Lead, 2020-21 President/Writing Officer
- Seiji Emery: 2019-20 Programming Lead
- Thomas Applewhite: 2019-20 Webmaster, 2020-21 Programming Officer
- Valentino Abate: 2018-19 Vice President, 2019-20 President/Programming Lead
2018-21
- Madeleine Glenn: 2018-21 Sound Lead/Officer
2018-19
- Eric Mitchell: 2018-19 Archivist/Webmaster
- Liam Dugard: 2017-18 Event Coordinator, 2018-19 President
- Muhammad Al-Suwaidi: 2018-19 Art Lead
- Valentino Abate: 2018-19 Vice President, 2019-20 President/Programming Lead
2017-18
- Aubrey Issacman: 2017-18 Outreach
- Christopher Paz: 2017-18 Outreach
- Edmond Le: 2017-18 Treasurer
- Fernando Zamora: 2017-18 Sound Lead
- Gian Paredes: 2017-18 Outreach, 2018-19 Art Lead/Treasurer
- Ian Rapoport: 2017-18 Event Coordinator
- Jon Alancantara: 2017-18 Archivist
- Kyle Oppenheim: 2017-18 Vice President
- Liam Dugard: 2017-18 Event Coordinator, 2018-19 President
- Linda Nguyen: 2017-18 Art Lead
- Nicholas Ho: 2017-18 Event Coordinator
- Nicole Maines: 2017-18 President
2017
- Zane Gregorian: 2017 Sound Lead
2014-2017
- Jarrett Van Den Bergh: 2014-17 Programming Officer
- Allyssa: 2014-17 President
- Daniel C: Webmaster