Since her formative time on the Greens Farms campus, Rebecca Brock Dixon ’95 has shattered the glass ceiling as Managing Director of Mommybites and now as co-founder and CMO of the*gameHERs — where she and her partners connect and create a sense of community for female gamers and industry leaders.
Dixon’s background is not originally in gaming. She and her business partners founded Mommybites in 2006, which Dixon described as “a grassroots effort founded in hopes of connecting New York City mothers through webinars, in-person events, and seminars.” The company has since become one of the largest social educational communities for moms in New York and beyond. The company rapidly grew and later sold, giving the team the opportunity to take some time to work on their next big idea.
During this break, Rebecca consulted Al Kahn — who helped introduce several popular gaming brands to the U.S. market, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pokémon, and Cabbage Patch Kids—whom she credits with much of her mentoring. She was familiar with online gaming, due to her father and brother John’s (Class of 1997 — see related story) investment in Team Envy, a leading esports organization established in 2007.
When she first entered the gaming world, she was shocked by the underrepresentation of women — in part because she knew women comprised 50% of gamers. In response to this issue, she and her partners created the*gameHERs with two missions in mind: to support female gamers and to celebrate the women who were already in the field.
“Together we help connect female gamers to executive designers and industry leaders. Only 8% of game developers are women, which is why you see certain content and less female leads. We have a Podcast, blogs, Twitch (where you livestream while gaming), a Discord Channel, and we are currently developing an app,” Dixon explained. “We hope this will help with some of the toxicity in the field directed toward women. We want to create a space for females in the industry to connect with other gamers for a positive experience.”
According to its website the*gameHERs is a “women-led community dedicated to amplifying and centering the voices of women, femme-identifying gamers and non-binary gamers.” The site is “a sexist-free space for the casual players, the hardcore gamers, the techies, the streamers, the designers, the cosplayers, the developers, and programmers.” This business venture serves as Dixon and her partners’ second victory in supporting female communities.
While a student at GFA, Dixon enjoyed her time in the Harbor Blues, led by Betsy Bergeron, and on the volleyball team with Paul Groves. She credits Jim Coyle, who was Headmaster and her advisor, with helping shape her time at GFA, and she found her passion for math under Charlie Deitrich — which, she says, is “absolutely why I majored in math in college at Vanderbilt.” Her lifelong friends spanned several grades, and now more than ever she encourages students and graduates to stay connected to the school community.
“GFA has just as big of an impact on my life now as when I was there,” she said. “Besides my family, nothing has had a greater impact on my life than attending GFA.”
Dixon has always had a passion for giving back and is extremely involved with the Horizons program — although GFA’s program was established after she had graduated. She learned of the program through her mother, who sat on Horizons’ national board. For the last five years, Dixon has been the Chair of the Brooklyn chapter.
“I’ve always believed in giving back and supporting GFA in any way I can,” she said. Dixon sat on the Alumni Council, and has since spearheaded a fundraising effort for a Horizons scholarship at GFA to encourage charitable giving.
While the COVID-19 pandemic certainly has tilted Dixon’s everyday life, a typical day includes a morning workout, getting her three young children ready to attend school, meetings, lunches, calls for her business, and involvement within her children’s school, which she explains, “reminds me a lot of GFA — which is partially why we picked it!”
Dixon lives in downtown Manhattan with her husband and three young children and recently spent time with family in Florida and Connecticut during spring and summer. She hopes to further connect with GFA students and alumni looking to major in computer science.