Discover the Aurora Nordics 2026 honourees

• Emmi Kuusikko, Head of Product, GameHouse
• Jessica Nylund, Business Development Director, Reaktor
• Jenny Brusk, Innovation Manager, Sweden Game Arena / Donna
• Mathilde Garreau, Lead Concept Artist, SYBO
• Parker Barry, Founder, Head of Studio, Mugwort Studios

Last week's Aurora initiative at PG Connects Nordics 2026 honoured industry-leading women whose vision, talent, leadership and more are making their mark in every corner of the Nordic region. Announced live on stage in Helsinki and presented by our very own Paige Cook (Left of main picture above), we celebrated five industry-leading women at the very forefront of the region's games industry.

The Nordic games industry is bursting with talent, creativity, innovation and at the heart of it are women whose work inspires, challenges, and pushes the medium forward. From visionary artists and immersive sound designers to brilliant writers, programmers, producers, and trailblazing entrepreneurs, women are making their mark in every corner of our sector.

Here are the honourees, with information from the nominations we received:

Emmi Kuusikko, Head of Product, GameHouse 

“Over the past 20 years, Emmi has helped leading studios build successful games and services across mobile, PC and console. Emmi combines a deep understanding of product, business and data with genuine empathy. She understands the perspectives of different disciplines and knows how to build bridges between them. By listening carefully and understanding individual team members, she creates strong teams built on trust. She brings warmth to her leadership while still providing clear strategic direction.

“As the industry enters the AI era, Emmi takes the same thoughtful approach: looking beyond novelty to identify where AI can improve organisations, strengthen products and create more personalised experiences.”

(Centre of main picture)

Jessica Nylund, Business Development Director, Reaktor 

“Jessica Nylund leads business development for Reaktor's Gaming & Entertainment practice, building and growing relationships with some of the world's most demanding game companies, including major global publishers and live-service studios. Her work spans web commerce, player identity, first-party data, AI-assisted support and game operations - exactly the infrastructure layer that keeps modern games commercially sustainable.

“BD at this level means navigating complex, senior buying environments where trust compounds slowly and evaporates fast. Jessica has done this consistently across geographies and across very different types of gaming organisations, and in doing so has been central to establishing Reaktor as a premium partner in a market that has no shortage of vendors.”

(Right of main picture)

Jenny Brusk, Innovation Manager, Sweden Game Arena / Donna  

“With 30 years of experience in the games industry, Jenny has been a strong advocate for gender equality. While working at the University of Skövde, she founded the organisation Donna, which played a key role in attracting more female students to game development programs. Donna is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion in the Swedish games industry, focusing on encouraging female, trans, and non-binary individuals to explore and pursue careers in game development. 

“Now at Sweden Game Arena, Jenny continues her work at Donna by supporting female game entrepreneurs in finding their place in the industry and helping students transition into professional life.”

Mathilde Garreau, Lead Concept Artist, SYBO

“Mathilde Garreau has spent more than seven years helping shape the creative identity of SYBO’s games, most notably Subway Surfers, the world’s most downloaded mobile game of all time. As Lead Concept Artist, Mathilde has played a pivotal role in evolving the visual world of Subway Surfers over the past four years, bringing life, color, humour and personality to a franchise enjoyed by more than 150 million monthly players globally. Mathilde has helped streamline and lead an incredibly demanding live-ops content pipeline, consistently delivering high-quality concepts for environments and characters on a weekly basis.

“Mathilde leads a fully female concept art team and is known internally for creating a supportive and uplifting environment.” 

Parker Barry, Founder, Head of Studio, Mugwort Studios

“For the last six years, Parker has worked in product and marketing leadership at Toca Boca, representing tween girls and advocating to support their mental health through games in concrete ways. She advocated for a holistic perspective and a systematic change to projects specifically from the tween girl perspective, with an interest in protecting their well-being.

“She was the head of the diversity and inclusion group at Toca Boca and advocated for a loud stance on inclusion in games, as she pushed for the first openly queer character at Toca Boca to be announced publicly as a milestone for the company’s inclusive representation. 

“Now, she’s working at her own studio, Mugwort Studios, along with a majority of female founders, making games for non-competitive players. Her mission is to carve out more space for women in the industry but also more games that meet the psychological needs for women in the market.”

Previous honourees

Our congratulations to all!

See here for more information on the Aurora initiative and previous honourees at our events around the world, supported by Women in Games.