In part 3 of the Honor Roll series, Mariam Adil discusses her work to reclaim gaming as a tool for social good

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Dec 1, 2017 · 7 min read

[Editor’s Note: In October, President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton convened the 10th annual CGI University meeting , which brought more than 1,000 student leaders from around the world to advance new Commitments to Action that address climate change, gender inequality, the refugee crisis, and other pressing issues facing their generation. Over the next several weeks, our Q&A series — the Honor Roll — will highlight exceptional CGI U alumni who have confronted global challenges through their commitments and careers.]

The field of gaming possesses a notorious history of sexism — but, it’s also a field that can create an inclusive space while addressing the very prejudices that keep women out, as exemplified by one young entrepreneur who has turned to video games to inspire meaningful behavioral change.

In 2015, Mariam Adil led a group of fellow graduate students at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in making a CGI U commitment to employ video games for positive change. By leveraging momentum from CGI U, Mariam founded GRID — Gaming Revolution for International Development and Gaming Revolution for Inspiring Development — a social enterprise that uses the power of gaming to change attitudes and behaviors.

Since GRID’s conception as a CGI U commitment, the team has developed games to address knowledge gaps, raise awareness, and inspire behavioral change around social issues. Among these are StereoWiped, which fights stereotypes; MoHiM, which addresses menstrual stigma; Gumbers, which makes math learning fun; and Randomania, which educates policy makers on randomized control trials. The team is currently working on new games that educate its users on endometriosis, financial literacy, youth employment, open defecation, and climate change.

GRID games have been implemented in interventions supported by large organizations such as UNICEF, the World Bank, local NGOs such as FLOC DC (For Love of Children), research institutes such as George Mason University (GMU) Public Health Department and NRG Advisory, and even fellow CGI U Commitments such as Breaking The Cycle.

Aside from founding GRID, Mariam is also an Education Specialist at the World Bank, a TedX speaker, the recipient of the 2015 Andrew E. Rice Award for “Leadership & Innovation” by the Society of International Development, the Knapp Fellowship, and the GWU Public-Service Grant Commission Award. We asked her about her inspirations, her CGI U experience, and her advice for students aspiring to affect change.

CLINTON FOUNDATION: You came to CGI U with a commitment to launching video games that can be used as solutions in international development. What was the inspiration behind this?

MARIAM: GRID lies at the intersection of three of my passions: education, technological innovation, and behavioral economics. I was always intrigued by the role that technology plays in inspiring meaningful behavioral change in a fun and interactive way, especially among the bottom billion. I believe that because of their interactive, iterative, and inspiring nature, games appeal to the human psychology in a way most other communication tools don’t and their impact on our brains far transcends the boundaries of the virtual world.

What’s even better is that we are at the cusp of a global technological boom: smartphones. The Ericson Mobility Report predicts that by 2020, 70% of the world’s population will be using smartphones. We are approaching a world where smartphones as low as $20 are spreading to all places — even areas where basic conditions like proper sanitation are luxuries. This boom will open a window of opportunity to use simple mobile games to inspire meaningful behavioral change.

These are the kinds of games we make at GRID. Our games are not only entertaining, but they also provide information that contributes to the betterment of peoples’ lives, health, money, and future. We strive to prove that games are not just a tool for entertainment, but can inspire and influence people’s behaviors in a positive way.

CF: Can you remember the moment when you realized the impact that you were making through your CGI U commitment?

MARIAM: Our first achievement was the widespread success of our game, StereoWiped. StereoWiped is a memory game that aims to break stereotypes, in addition to simply being fun. In the game, the player has to flip tiles and match pairs of stereotypes. For each correctly matched ‘Stereotype’ pair, the game wipes the stereotype.

So how do we deconstruct stereotypes? By providing information in a fun way: when the player matches “I am a girl” and “I like pink,” they are informed that “…actually 2 out of 3 girls prefer blue more than pink.” Or, if they match “I am Muslim” and “I am a terrorist,” the game highlights that “Of the past 12 individuals who won the Nobel Peace Prize, four were Muslim”.

While our game lets you have fun by racing against the time and wiping away as many stereotypes as possible, it also provides a platform that raises awareness and triggers a dialogue around these harmful stereotypes. We even partnered with FLOC DC to make StereoWiped a part of their curriculum for summer school in an effort to target younger, more susceptible audiences to engage in these conversations.

While StereoWiped was one of our first achievements, the moment that made me truly believe in the potential of my CGI U Commitment was the launch of MoHiM. MoHiM is a GRID game that focuses on the menstrual stigma. The shame and stigma around menstruation manifests as a kind of oppression that few of us pay attention to. Continued silence around menstruation, coupled with limited access to information, results in millions of females suffering from poor menstrual hygiene. For women worldwide, menstrual shame and stigma cause health problems and adverse impacts on things like girls’ school attendance and learning, economic exclusion of women, and girls’ self-esteem and dignity.

In order to break the stigma around us there is a need to educate and raise awareness, engage and trigger dialogue, and inspire and change behaviors so that we not only recognize the problem but also move towards finding a solution for it.

When I launched MoHiM, I wanted to amplify the voice of my younger self, who lived in the shadow of menstrual stigma; I wanted to world to hear the voices of girls who dropped out of school, the women who have died in menstrual huts, and the women around the world who are made to feel ashamed of their periods. MoHiM has allowed me to become a part of a future that is deconstructing menstrual stigma and shame — a future I am committed to until the very last domino falls.

For more information, watch my TedX talk on menstrual stigma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWm1eLNwsW8

CF: What was the most important lesson from your CGI U experience?

MARIAM: Having grown up as a Pakistani Muslim woman, I have often had to compete relentlessly to get a shot at the best opportunities — be it a scholarship, a promotion, or even a nod of acknowledgement. Consequently, over the years I fell into the habit of prioritizing competition over collaboration. But, after having attended three CGI U events and being surrounded by an international network of students who shared my passion and commitment to improve the world around us, I realized that by collaborating and fostering partnerships we could all expand our own perspectives and opportunities. CGI U taught me success is not a zero-sum game.

In other words: If the cake can grow through collaboration, then don’t waste energy competing over a smaller cake.

To that end, our partnerships have been absolutely critical to the success of our games. For instance, through our partners UNICEF Pakistan, we are currently involved in a multi-phase rollout of MoHiM across urban and rural schools in Pakistan. With GMU we are developing a game on Endometriosis which will be evaluated through an RCT; with NRG Advisory we are developing our game JobSensei which tackles the challenges around youth employment; and most recently, we entered a partnership with a CGI U 2017 commitment “Breaking the Cycle” to introduce MoHiM to young girls in DC and raise awareness around menstrual health.

CF: What’s the biggest piece of advice you would you give to college students looking to make their mark on the world while they’re still in school?

MARIAM: This is for all the young girls dreaming about making a difference: There is nothing about being a woman that should stop you from being the person you want to be! Be it a tech entrepreneur, a pilot, a mom, a gardener, or a president, the key is to realize that being a woman makes you strong, and to march forward.

CF: What has been your favorite moment as a member of the CGI U community?

Mariam: Conversations with the Clintons, not just once but twice over the past two years! Apart from being one of the coolest things I’ve done, they also gave me a chance to see the Clinton family in action and realize that, for them, CGI U is a personal promise to enlighten, engage and empower.