Parity announced today that Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, has become the first gaming company and the first eSports company to take the ParityPledge ™. With this undertaking, Skillz joins a growing number of tech companies to publicly announce that they will interview at least one qualified woman for every open executive role. This is an important step forward for the gaming industry, particularly with frequent headlines regarding gender inequality in both the technology and media industries. 

“Parity.org was founded to correct the stark reality of gender imbalance at the very top of companies today,” said Cathrin Stickney, Parity.org founder and CEO. “As the fastest-growing private company in America, Skillz is setting an important example for others by making this public commitment. We are thankful for their support and hope this will help open doors to leadership for more women in the gaming industry.” 

Beginning with the tagline, eSports for Everyone, Skillz has held diversity and inclusion at the core of its mission since the company’s founding in 2012. According to a recent International Game Developers Association industry study, the Skillz workforce is more than 50% higher than the gaming industry average of 23%. Not to mention that Skillz technical team has nearly twice the ratio of female to male employees as well known tech companies such as Twitter, Uber, Microsoft and Google.

“The technology and gaming industries under represent women in the workforce and we are an agent of change in an industry that is long overdue,” said Miriam Aguirre, Vice President of Engineering at Skillz. “Creating an equitable workplace isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s vital to building a thriving business for tomorrow’s workers.”

The company’s commitment to equality in the workforce has resulted in the most inclusive eSports system in the world, with women accounting for more than half of all Skillz players (53 percent) in the past year. Moreover, Skillz recently announced that women dominated the company’s top player rankings for 2017 with seven of the top ten spots. In fact, the top female athlete on the platform ranked first overall, claiming tournament prizes that totaled over $420,000 in 2017.

“We’re thrilled to join the Parity Pledge to further our commitment to creating an inclusive environment for our co-workers, our players and our developers,” said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz.

The ParityPledge started in 2017 to bring gender equality to the highest levels of business and was inspired the NFL Rooney Rule, a National Football League policy that requires league teams to interview qualified minority candidates for head coaching and senior football management roles. 

To learn more about career opportunities at Skillz, visit www.skillz.com/careers. For more information about Skillz-enabled games and implementing mobile eSports competitions, visit www.skillz.com or email launch@skillz.com.

 

About Skillz

Skillz, the leading mobile eSports platform, connects the world’s 2.6 billion mobile gamers through competition. In 2017, Skillz was named the #1 fastest-growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine, the first eSports company on CNBC’s Disruptor 50, and the only eSports company on the San Francisco Business Times Fast 100. Over 12 million gamers use Skillz to compete in mobile games across 3,000+ game studios. Founded in 2012, Skillz is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading venture capitalists as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Mets and Sacramento Kings. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.

 

About Parity.org

Parity.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to gender equality at the highest ranks of business leadership. Parity.org is assembling a founding advisory board of some of the most recognized men and women leaders in business. You can follow Parity.org on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. 

 

Press Contact

Roxie Bostwick

Communications Lead

Skillz Inc.

pr@skillz.com