Teacher and designer Kathleen Mercury, M.A.T., M.E.T., has been pushing the boundaries of using design thinking to merge game design and instruction from elementary to collegiate levels for over 20 years. She has taught everything from the core subjects to Design and Gifted Intervention in schools from the midwest to California to overseas in Bucharest, Romania. Currently, she is a Lecturer in the School of Education at California Polytechnic Humboldt teaching methods courses and supervising student teachers. 

Kathleen is a published tabletop game designer with Greece Lightning (2021) and upcoming titles Tulip Season and Valkyrie.  

She shares all of her game design teaching resources at www.kathleenmercury.com for free, and is a frequent collaborator with education and game industry professionals to create innovative experiences and instruction, with past clients ranging from Riot Games, Catan Studio, and Guardian Adventures. She presents often at conferences for educators and game designers, and her Lightning Game Design Jam has been a hit at Tabletop Network and GenCon Trade Day, among other conferences.

Kathleen thinks happiness comes from being able to create the life you want, and she feels very fortunate that she's been able to do that.