Earlier this year, Amber Stafford, our longtime public relations professional, took a full-time job in the world of VR. She had done invaluable, pro bono work for the Circle over the years. What would the group do? Quickly, Amber reached out to Zebra Partners to see if Zebra would begin work shortly after she parted ways with our nonprofit group and began her new adventure. Thankfully, Zebra agreed.

They dove into the work – with alacrity. That’s because Zebra, at its core, was created by hardworking, super-knowledgeable, former Nintendo people. Perrin Kaplan, the company’s founder, is someone Circle president Harold Goldberg has known since the 1990s, when Perrin would travel the country to work on Nintendo’s behalf.

Our point person here in New York City is Mabel Chung, who often aided Amber when we were live on New York Game Awards nights. This year, Mabel has not only helped with public relations, working to spearhead a media partnership with IGN (more on that later). In addition, Mabel has taken the time to speak about her pathways to success with our students in the Bronx. Importantly, she has stepped in and dug in to help when one of our core workers could not do the job any longer.

So we want to welcome and thank Zebra Partners as they do their stellar pro bono work for the New York Videogame Critics Circle. Here’s to the excitement – and partnership with our underserved students – that’s to come.