Welcome to
20Sided Gamified LLC
Mission Statement
20Sided Gamified LLC was founded in 2023 by Jared Fishman, whose professional career includes a 20+ year tenure teaching history in independent schools, and positions on the boards of multiple game based organizations, including HMGS Next Gen, Inc (Historical Miniatures Gaming Society), and the North American Simulations and Games Association (NASAGA). 20SG’s mission is to provide game based professional development for businesses and corporations, universities, and other educational organizations. This includes training on leadership, teamwork, goal setting, and the various skills necessary for the workplace and beyond. Jared developed these programs through his experiences mentoring teachers and running conferences through NYSAIS (New York State Association of Independent Schools), as well as decades of designing thoughtful, meaningful experiences for students and adults alike. What makes Jared truly unique is the fact that his workshops are almost entirely game based, meaning, attendees will learn more about themselves through roleplaying scenarios, sophisticated board games, and table top experiences meant to wow and engage. Simply put- people can discover who they are- businesses can grow and become more focused- and university classrooms can be enhanced through the use of gamified activities. To date, 20SG has worked with a number of institutions ranging from Yale, Georgetown, Marist, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Binghamton, Westchester Community College, and has presented at conferences such as Salute 51, Historicon, NASAGA, and Connections Online.
Jared Fishman
Founder and Host
Jared Fishman is a familiar face in the world of education, professional development, and game design thinking. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Brunswick School, in Greenwich, Connecticut, he is the founder and president of “20Sided Gamified LLC”, a company focused on game based professional and corporate training for business, schools, and other institutions. He has also served on the board of organizations such as HMGS Next Gen, Inc (Historical Miniatures Gaming Society), and NASAGA (North American Simulation and Games Association), helping to guide leadership decisions and general strategy. He is also the host of the “20 Sided Gamified Podcast”, which explores the relationship between games and education.
Over the past 20 years, Jared has worked as a grade level dean, a school administrator, and authored/designed multiple history courses including Western and Non-Western History, Collaborative Storytelling and Roleplay Gaming, and History of Warfare. Over his teaching career, Jared has been bestowed numerous honors, including the Mary Lambos Award for Teaching in 2014 and the Davidson Chair in History, a position he held from 2016-2020. Jared's classroom experience has set the foundation for his belief that games support critical thinking along many different avenues, from the classroom to the corporate office.
Jared is well versed in running professional development training across numerous institutions, most notably collaborating with everyone from Yale University, Georgetown University, Westchester Community College, SUNY New Paltz, Marist College, as well as corporate institutions such as the Passaic County Cultural Heritage as well as the Connecticut Library Association and New York Library Association. These trainings run the gamut of working with teachers (“Role Playing, Games, and Simulations in the Humanities Classroom”), librarians ( “Game Based Learning and Library Communities"), and think tanks (Georgetown University: Unlocking the Secret Power of Games). In 2019, he and his teaching partner Michael Canterino won the NASAGA “Rising Star” award for a role play simulation entitled “Drawing a Line in the Sand: Exploring Leadership Through the Lens of Popilius.”
With Kelly McManus as cohost, Jared’s “20 Sided Gamified Podcast” has attracted key figures throughout the gaming industry, and is regularly invited to support key conventions such as PAX, Historicon, and Salute to name a few. Since the show went on air in March of 2023, guests from a wide range of backgrounds have appeared, including game companies (Warlord Games, Stonemaier Games, Steve Jackson Games, Fort Circle Games), authors (Tory Brown, Jason Matthews, Rick Priestley, Richard Clarke), professors (Trent Hergenrader, Gavin Lawson, Steve O’Rourke), and enthusiasts (Our Family Plays Games) to name a few. “20 Sided Gamified” is known to be one of the more holistic podcasts out there which covers games of all types, including miniatures, board, and roleplaying, and has its sights set on demystifying genres and showing how game thinking can be applied to support skill building and various forms of trainings.
Kelly McManus
Director of Programming, Co-host
Kelly McManus is the official cohost of "20 Sided Gamified Podcast" and assists Jared in the professional development work done by "20 Sided Gamified LLC." In addition to the video production and editing work for the organization's YouTube page, he is also a trained historian and a lifelong gamer. Professionally, he works for local government, administering several historic and cultural sites owned by the County of Passaic in New Jersey. In this role, Kelly has overseen the day-to-day management of Dey Mansion Washington’s Headquarters, led education and event programming, and manages several cultural heritage initiatives. Kelly can also be found in the classroom where he sometimes serves as an Adjunct Professor of History at William Paterson University.
In his personal time, Kelly is an avid hobbyist. He has spent ten years teaching leadership skills and creating competitions in an international online gaming organization. Upon finishing graduate school in 2017, he stumbled upon historical miniature wargaming and immediately cut his teeth on Napoleonics. The first model Kelly painted was Prussian Landwehr, a suitable beginning considering that at the same time, he was writing about Prussian Militarism in the early modern period. Since then, Kelly has engrossed himself in the hobby.
Kelly became involved in "20 Sided Gamified LLC" through is work in HMGS Next Gen, Inc. Through the recording of the first FriendsCast episode with Jared, Kelly has become a near-constant reoccurring member of the cast both on the front end and behind the scenes.