George, the oldest son of Mariam and Abraham M. George, grew up in New Jersey, United States.[13] The family was well-off and George attended good schools.[14] George felt isolated at school, and used role-playing games to help him, saying, "as a brown kid growing up in a deeply white set of schools and communities, I felt alienated constantly and really, really had a hard time with it. It was very, very painful for me growing up. And role playing games were one of the few refuges along with books that I could find that gave me my own space and my own voice and to experiment."[15]
Career
Shanti Bhavan Children's Project
When George was 22, his father Abraham decided to return to India to create a residential school for children of the Dalit caste, India's poorest caste.[14]
In 2008, George became the Director of Operations for Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. He was brought onto the team in response to the 2008 financial crisis to help Shanti Bhavan deal with its own financial crisis. George changed the financial structure of the organization, taking it from being funded privately to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It is now supported by individual donations, corporate and nongovernmental organization (NGO) partnerships, and grants.[16][17]
In January 2024, George became the Chief Operating Officer for Shanti Bhavan.[18] He oversees all domestic and international fundraising, volunteer and teacher recruitment, media relations, strategic partnerships, and the mentorship program at Shanti Bhavan Children's Project.[13][19]
George is a board member of the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, a postgraduate school of journalism and media, founded in 2001 and based in Bangalore, India.[20]
Writing and game design
George returned to the world of role-playing games, and found that little had changed in the field since his childhood, with almost no creative representation by people of color.[15] After working as a contributing writer on Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft (2021),[21][3][22] George approached several publishing companies about increasing creative diversity. George and F. Wesley Schneider became co-lead designers and writers for Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (2022),[23][18] the first official "anthology of D&D adventures to be written entirely by Black and brown authors" published by Wizards of the Coast, including an adventure by Mimi Mondal.[1][24] The committee of the Diana Jones Award in 2022 highlighted that George "has been the first writer of Indian origin to write Indian-inspired material for a number of games, including Dungeons & Dragon's Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft".[25]Journeys through the Radiant Citadel was nominated for the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Game Writing,[5] the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming,[6] and ENNIE Awards for Best Adventure and Best Product.[7]
Along with being a writer, George is a diversity consultant, speaker, and activist in the gaming community.[30] In 2016, George helped Gen Con expand its Industry Insider Speakers program.[31] In 2019, he created a POC training and mentorship program that connects game industry experts with POC professionals new to the industry. George also organized and led the first POC networking event at Big Bad Con in 2019.[32]
^ abCulver, Jordan (July 20, 2022). "'Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel': 16 writers, all people of color, shape new Dungeons & Dragons book". USA Today. Retrieved July 20, 2022. After working on other projects, George met with D&D senior designer F. Wesley Schneider. George, also the Chief Operating Officer of the nonprofit Shanti Bhavan Children's Project, was given the chance to work on another D&D product, he said, and during that time, he thought about what would eventually become 'Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.'
^George, Ajit (June 15, 2022). "Ajit A. George". Retrieved June 15, 2022.
