CTalk
“You have to see it to be it,” says Neta Friedlander, Founder of Women in Gaming Israel
Neta Friedlander, Co-Founder and Manager of Women in Gaming Israel, speaks to CTech at Calcalist’s Gaming Conference 2025.
Neta Friedlander
(Photo: Orel Cohen)
While women make up roughly “30%” of the gaming industry, their representation in senior leadership and founder roles remains “almost single digits,” says Women in Gaming Israel Co-Founder Neta Friedlander. Speaking with CTech at Calcalist’s Gaming Conference 2025, Friedlander said that as the organization works toward the long-term goal of equality in the gaming sector, visibility plays a vital role. “You have to see it to be it,” she said.
Women in Gaming Israel began in 2019 when she and co-founder Elinor Schops started connecting female leads and managers with journalists looking for stories about professionals who were underrepresented. As interest grew, they saw the need for a broader community linking female founders, CEOs, and industry professionals. She notes that the group now includes “over 1,500 members.”
Membership, she adds, is about camaraderie: “Think about your favorite WhatsApp group… how you consult with your friends, how you talk to people that you trust.” The organization aims to ensure that women have people “who actually walked that road” to advise them on interviews, career changes, and opportunities. With the Women in Gaming annual conference coming up on 1 March 2026, Friedlander says the space is especially important “for all professionals to meet and greet and learn a little bit more.”
You can watch the entire exchange in the video above.
