Esports Era
Founded the College Esports Expo — the first collegiate esports conference in the Western Hemisphere — and served as Chief Architect of the HP × AMD × edX Esports Management Certificate.
That certificate has reached more than 100,000 students across 30 languages. Co-Commissioner of Ivy League Esports; Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College for close to a decade, teaching the discipline he helped invent an on-ramp for.
Kevin founded the College Esports Expo (CEX) in 2017, inside an Emerson College classroom — the first collegiate esports conference in the Western Hemisphere. It grew from 105 attendees at CEX 2018 to a 2020 edition spanning seven rooms and 54 speakers, featuring U.S. Army prizes, a virtual audience of 1,000+ viewers in Brazil, and reach into India and Africa. Kevin also co-hosted CENC, a coalition of 50+ colleges, and helped establish Massachusetts Esports & Gaming Week.
As Affiliated Faculty at Emerson College for close to a decade, Kevin returned to school himself to keep teaching there — Emerson required a bachelor's degree of its faculty, so he enrolled at UWW in January 2021 and graduated with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies that September. He served as a two-time official judge for the Intel Inspires Global Esports Education Initiative and authored a peer-reviewed chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Esports, now catalogued at Yale Library. In 2024, the Mass Cultural Council named him a recipient of its Grants for Creative Individuals award, a $5,000 unrestricted grant to develop a Creator Economy curriculum, alongside formal recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for advancing the digital creative economy.
The centerpiece of the era is the HP × AMD × edX Esports Management Certificate, where Kevin serves as Lead Instructor and Chief Architect — a 22-course program that has certified more than 100,000 students across 30 languages, built in partnership with the United Nations. Kevin also serves as Co-Commissioner of Ivy League Esports alongside William Lee, and the work has been covered by GBH/PBS Boston across two placements — including as the primary expert on esports during peak Fortnite, filmed at the Microsoft Store at Prudential Center with Emerson students — and by WCVB's Chronicle in a dedicated gaming and esports episode.