Cherbak is being recognized for opening doors for women and emerging talent in the games industry
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — * * * * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * * * *
Rocket Game Talent‘s Fiona Cherbak Nominated for Women in Tech Hollywood Mentor & Champion Award, Honoring More Than Two Decades of Mentorship in Games
From co-founding Women in Games International to leading talent programs across PlayStation and Xbox Game Studios, Cherbak is recognized for opening doors for women and emerging talent
LOS ANGELES — Wednesday, October 7, 2026 — Fiona Cherbak, Head of Agency at Rocket Game Talent, has been nominated for the Mentor & Champion Award by the Women in Technology: Hollywood Foundation (WiTH), recognizing more than two decades of mentoring women and emerging talent in the games industry. Winners will be announced October 21 at the 9th Annual SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit.
WiTH unites women technology leaders from Amazon, Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures and other major studios to advance women and underrepresented talent in media and entertainment technology. The Mentor & Champion Award honors leaders who lift others as they rise. Recent WiTH honorees include 2025 Mentor & Champion recipients Beate Chelette of The Growth Architect, Krystyn Hilliard of Tubi, and Samira Panah Bakhtiar of Amazon Web Services.
“To be recognized by Women in Technology Hollywood for more than twenty years of mentorship is an honor I don’t take lightly. Every role I’ve held, from community organizer to studio talent lead to agency head, has come back to the same work: helping people into the games world and helping them grow, one open door at a time. This recognition belongs to the mentors who opened doors for me, and to everyone who has let me do the same for them,” said Cherbak.
Cherbak’s mentoring work began in the games community. A former chair of the IGDA Women in Games Special Interest Group, she co-founded Women in Games International (WIGI), now in it’s twenty-first year, and co-created GameMentorOnline, a first-of-its-kind industry mentoring program. She also co-founded the Boston Festival of Indie Games, a showcase for emerging indie developers.
She carried that commitment into the industry’s largest studios, supporting 14 PlayStation studios and teams as Talent Acquisition Lead for Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios, then leading talent programs across 23 first-party studios as Lead Talent Program Manager at Xbox Game Studios, where she built inclusive hiring programs, hosted GDC career conversations, and supported the Gaming for Everyone, Accessibility, USO and Neurodiversity initiatives, as well as career counseling for Xbox Game Camp grads.
Her mentorship reaches well beyond the studio. Cherbak has spoken at USC Games, MIT and Savannah College of Design, among others, advised BAFTA Games and the European Women in Games Conference, joined a White House women-in-games initiative, and co-produced the inaugural Women Create Games Forum in Milan, sponsored by Xbox. Today, at Rocket Game Talent, she helps indie and growing studios open doors for the next generation of developers, while serving as advisory board member for Women in Games International.
Event Details
The 9th Annual SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit and WiTH Leadership Awards will take place Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at the Directors Guild of America Los Angeles Theater Complex, 7920 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046, both in person and virtually. Presented by Amazon Web Services and themed “Built for This Moment,” the full-day Summit brings together leaders across technology, media, entertainment and business. Registration is available at withollywood.org.
About the Women in Technology: Hollywood Foundation (WiTH)
Founded in 2014, the Women in Technology: Hollywood Foundation (WiTH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advancing women in media and entertainment technology through professional development, mentoring and networking, and community engagement. WiTH donates 100% of awards sponsorship revenue to local STEM nonprofits, and its Steering Committee includes representatives from Amazon Studios, Microsoft, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Disney. Learn more at withollywood.org.
About Rocket Game Talent
Rocket Game Talent is a boutique fractional talent operations firm that helps game studios build and scale their hiring. Launched in early 2026 by former PlayStation and Xbox talent leader Fiona Cherbak, it offers full-cycle recruiting, hiring infrastructure, employer branding, and inclusive hiring programs for indie and growing studios. More info available at: www.rocketgametalent.com.
Media Contact: info@rocketgametalent.com
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