Bonnie Ross
Industry leader
Class of 2019 Inductee
Bonnie Ross served as Corporate Vice President at Xbox Game Studios, and was the head of 343 Industries, the subsidiary studio that manages the Halo video game franchise.
Ross announced her departure from 343 Industries on September 12, 2022.
In December 2024 she became a board member at Duolingo, an educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification.
Ross helped found a networking group that evolved into the Microsoft Women in Gaming community and a yearly event. She believes gaming can serve as a way to get young people interested in STEM careers by relating it to something they enjoy.
Ross argues that game developers have a “personal responsibility” to avoid gender stereotyping in their games, as well as taking action against sexist abuse.
Ross has also focused on introducing more racial and gender diversity to the video games.
Wikipedia Link:
66 credits on 57 games at Mobygames:
Recognition:
Ross appeared as a speaker at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, held in Phoenix, Arizona, presenting on “Technology and How It Is Evolving Storytelling in Our Entertainment Experiences”.
She has also made appearances as a speaker at GeekWire 2013 and Microsoft’s ThinkNext 2015 in Israel.
Ross was also the lead speaker for Microsoft’s presentation at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo, as part of an industry push for larger roles for women.
In 2014, Fortune listed Ross as one of “10 powerful women in video games”, which noted that she was “responsible for defining the vision and leading the Halo franchise”.
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences named Ross as their 2019 Inductee to their Hall of Fame at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards held in February 2019. She was the second female inductee in this award since its establishment.
2019 IVGHOF Ceremony Acceptance Speech:
IVGHOF Trading Card:
