Alumna Brings People Together for Meaningful and Intimate Conversations

Cathy Cranberg smiling headshot with board game
Cathy Cranberg headshot looking at board game
Cathy Cranberg with her first board game, “How Do You See The World?”

Cathy Cranberg, CCAS BA ’95, is good at asking questions.

For more than 20 years, she led large businesses, including those within GE Healthcare and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, through change and put them on the path to achieve a vision. It was through this process, she says, coupled with her psychology degree, that she learned to ask the types of prodding personal and professional questions to help people follow a vision.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that she is now the founder and CEO of Authentic Agility Games, a game company that aims to bring people together for meaningful and intimate conversations — by asking questions.

The first game, “How Do You See The World?” was released last year and contains 500 questions about relationships, aspirations, life’s purpose and beliefs.

“It’s for anyone who wants to connect with others and is curious, open, and genuinely interested in others, and how people view the world,” says Cranberg, adding that even young children can play. The game is played by rolling the dice, drawing a card, and matching the symbol with a category. Each player gets to the answer the questions.

The second game, “Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?” which launched this month, was designed as a fun, safe way to discuss politics, religion and life.

“The questions really dig in and explore your spiritual nature, and your beliefs about the country you live in,” she says. Questions include: What rituals do you practice? What does equal opportunity mean to you? How has your ethnicity affected your life? What’s most important to you in the next election?

“It’s really for people who are curious and want to learn more about politics, religion, and are interested in having respectful conversations,” she explains, adding that it’s a way for people to get together with those they love but may disagree with (like family and friends at Thanksgiving) and have deep, tough and controversial conversations.

Cranberg, who also runs her own consulting firm where she manages real estate and diverse investments and is on the board of directors of her family’s oil and gas company, worked on the premise for these games for more than eight years before she launched them.

During a time of self-reflection, while reexamining what values she wanted to live by and who she wanted to surround herself with, she was also looking for ways to have more intimate conversations.

Through reading, listening to podcasts and meditating she started developing the questions and decided to turn them into a game.

“I’m an athlete, and I love to play, and I think others do too,” Cranberg says. “As you get older you might not carve out time to play as much. But if you look at children, playing is an important part of how we engage with each other.”

Once the concept took shape, she practiced with her friends and family, including her two teen stepdaughters and their friends, who were “super engaged” in the deep conversations. “Every time I played, the experience was magical,” she recalls. “There was something special happening, and I needed to make [these games] happen.”

Her goal is to release a new game every year, and as of now, there are plans for a kids’ version, a young adult version, a professional version, and one for women. “It’s time to have some fun — we need to get back to play, laughter, community, and respecting and honoring each other and our unique experiences. That’s what these games allow us to do.”

In addition to bringing people together through her games, Cranberg also wants to “support organizations that change the world,” so all proceeds are being donated to educational organizations, such as Alliance for Choice in Education (ACE), a company founded by her husband. “Education and entrepreneurship – these are the levers that lift people up,” she says.

And it’s these beliefs and her passion for education that keep her connected to GW, as well. Cranberg, who was a student-athlete at GW (she had a scholarship to play basketball), has served on the Athletic Advisory Council for the last three years.

“I’m passionate about empowering students and athletes to be the best version of themselves,” she says. “GW gave so much to me, from a career and foundational perspective, and I want to give back and pay it forward.”

 

–Christine Cole

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