Women in Games International (WIGI) and Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) today announced that they will collaborate with PlayStation’s Santa Monica Studio to help Girl Scouts earn a patch in video game design. PlayStation’s Santa Monica Studio, the award-winning team behind the “God of War” franchise, will host the patch workshops for Los Angeles-area Girl Scouts on Saturday, Sept. 24 and on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There, Girl Scouts will have the opportunity to learn what it’s like to work in the video game industry from a professional, create a physical prototype, digital prototype, test their designs, and more.

WIGI spearheaded the L.A. initiative in order to prompt other Girl Scout councils across the nation to partner with local WIGI chapters to secure sponsors and develop similar programs. Eventually, WIGI also hopes Girl Scouts of the USA will be inspired to add a video game design badge to its list of National Proficiency badges. (Current tech-proficiency badges for Girl Scouts at the national level include Computer Expert, Digital Photographer, Entertainment Technology, Geocacher, Product Designer, Digital Moviemaker, Netiquette and Website Designer.)

Both GSGLA and WIGI want to show girls possible career options in the video game industry, driving their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects.

“Girl Scouts has a long history of developing pioneers in the fields of science and technology. This workshop is not only fun for our Los Angeles area Girl Scouts, it’s a chance for girls to explore and experience STEM in a supportive environment.” said Lise Luttgens, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles chief executive officer.

“By creating a STEM-aligned video game patch program for Girl Scouts, we’re helping young women see what opportunities are open to them in these fields,” said Amy Allison, vice president at WIGI. “WIGI promotes diversity in the video game industry, and spearheading this effort means that women have more opportunities to be better represented in the next generation of video game creators.”

For more information, or to become a sponsor, please contact WIGI at: info@getwigi.com