The Game Audio Diversity Alliance (GADA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more inclusive and diverse game audio industry by opening doors for underrepresented voices. Founded and operated by game audio professionals, GADA provides career advancement opportunities through education, mentoring, networking, and financial support — ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, has the chance to build a successful career in game audio.
Their long-term goals include establishing scholarships, mentorship programs, and partnerships with companies and organizations that share their commitment to inclusion and representation in the industry.
At Kilohearts, we’re proud to partner with GADA and support their mission by providing complete software bundles to their Sound Design Scholar graduates. These tools are intended to empower the next generation of creators to explore, design, and innovate without financial barriers holding them back.
You can learn more about GADA’s work and initiatives at gameaudiodiversityalliance.org.
Voices from the GADA Scholars
Every scholar featured below graduated from the GADA Sound Design program and received the full Kilohearts software collection as part of their scholarship. These talented individuals are now using our tools to create, experiment, and build their own careers in the world of game audio.
I’m incredibly grateful to Kilohearts for their generous support through the GADA scholarship. Their plugin bundle has quickly become a creative staple in my workflow. The modular design, intuitive interface, and versatility have pushed me to explore new sonic territories across genres — from glitchy textures in game sound design to lush, evolving pads in cinematic scores. Thank you for helping artists like me bring ideas to life.
Gabriel Mielnik
The suite of plugins donated by Kilohearts have opened new avenues for me to express myself and level up the quality of my audio production. One of the primary access barriers I see in the game audio industry is the price of tools that you need to get started. I've often felt that my lack of access to quality industry tools has limited my ability to compete with people who don’t encounter fiscal and resource barriers. I’ve already used these plugins in various projects, and I can immediately see the impact they’ve had on my production quality and workflow. Kilohearts’ donation gift to GADA scholar alumni is more than generous; I am grateful and excited for my new chapter in audio production. Thank you Kilohearts!
Anna Cooley
One of GADA’s partnered companies, Kilohearts, provided free sets of plugins to the scholars which are very useful during the sound design and synthesis process. I’ve been using Kilohearts’ modular synthesizer, Phase Plant, which has been especially useful for sound design and synthesis. Its intuitive interface and visual approach to wavetable manipulation have made it a powerful part of my workflow. I'm excited to continue exploring its potential and creating new sounds!
Carol Yan Li
Thank you so much to Kilohearts for your generosity in gifting the Kilohearts bundle to the GADA scholars. It means the world being able to access these amazing tools and take my sound design skills to the next level without any financial worries. Since receiving the bundle, the Kilohearts plugins have become my main toolkit for any and all things sound design. After learning the super user-friendly interface, Phase Plant has become my new home base for synthesis. Phase Plant’s intuitive visualization of audio processing allows me to be limitlessly creative with the sounds I make and maximizes efficiency by having multiple groups and effects lanes live in the same window.
Through exploring Phase Plant, I've not only learned a lot about synthesis and DSP, but also how important it is for the basics of sound design (like LFOs, harmonics, and detuning) to be customizable at the turn of a dial. The same can be said for Snap Heap when I need a lot of processing done quickly — every effect I might need is right there for me and it makes experimentation so much easier. These days, whenever I need to conjure up any sound out of thin air, I feel confident knowing I can make it happen with the Kilohearts bundle!
Annie Okuhara
By supporting GADA’s mission, we hope to help level the playing field for emerging creators and inspire more diverse voices to shape the future of game audio. We’re honored to play a small part in their journey and can’t wait to hear what comes next.
This article is part of Kilohearts Game Audio Week 2025.
