Darlington Career Day will feature a keynote address from alumnus Will Harbin (‘95) on Jan. 17 at 8:30 a.m. in Morris Chapel. Harbin is a serial entrepreneur and currently CEO of Global Worldwide, a maker of mobile games. All students in grades 9-12 will participate in the special event.
"We are so thrilled to welcome Will back to Darlington for Career Day," said Vicki Vincent, director of alumni relations. "His story will resonate with students and inspire them to look for opportunities and to pursue their own curiosities."
Prior to Global Worldwide, Harbin co-founded KIXEYE, a pioneer in free-to-play gaming which invented the MMORTS (Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy) genre through their games Backyard Monsters, Battle Pirates, War Commander, and VEGA Conflict. During his 10 year tenure as CEO, Harbin scaled KIXEYE to nine-figures in revenue, grew to hundreds of employees across 4 international offices, and inspired the term "midcore". KIXEYE's inventive game mechanics were widely recognized in the industry and spawned thousands of copy-cat games.
Harbin has been frequently covered by The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, and Forbes. He was named to Vanity Fair's "The Next Establishment", San Francisco Business Times "40 under 40", and one of Business Insider's "25 Hot CEOs Of Silicon Valley Startups You Can't Afford To Ignore."
In 2019, KIXEYE sold a portfolio of its core assets to StillFront Group. Harbin, the core team, and some R&D assets spun out into Global Worldwide.
Before KIXEYE, he co-founded multiple companies including Affinity Labs (acquired by Monster Worldwide) and Function Drinks (acquired by Sunsweet). He has also held positions at Netscape, Yahoo, Internet Security Systems, and was the Entrepreneur in Residence with Trinity Ventures. He graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science from Vanderbilt University.
Darlington's Career Day sessions, led by 34 additional alumni, will cover a broad range of interests spanning professions from from the traditional (lawyer, doctor, business) to less traditional (blogger, archaeologist and theater director). Alumni speakers includeKathleen Clawson Allan (‘00), R. Allen Babcock Jr. (‘00), Trip Booker (‘96, LD ‘19), Brooke Brinson (‘88, LD '14), William E. Carroll III (‘07), Dr. William L. Edwards (‘07), John S. Foster III (‘69), Jonathan T. Gilreath-Harvey (‘07, LD ‘19), Joshua F. Graham (‘03), Megan Cox Henry (‘97), Angelyn Waddell Hill (‘99), Robert P. Hortman Jr. (‘99, LD ‘18), Dr. Charles F. Jackson III (‘98), Dr. Cline T. Jackson (‘98), Michael A. Jones (‘04, LD ‘16), Thomas E. Kuckhoff (‘09, LD ‘19), Katherine Powers Lightner (‘08), Bryan P. Lowe (‘99, LD '18), Charles H. Lumpkin (‘99), Jennifer K. Peacock (‘07), Christina D. Robertson (‘94, LD ‘16), Mark A. Rogers (‘94, LD ‘12), Annie I. Rosen (‘02, LD ‘18), Blake Segars ('99, LD '19), Scott M. Shepard (‘87), Jeffrey E. Snider (‘92, LD ‘19), Dr. Frank D. Stegall Jr. (‘02), R. Craig Stiegel (‘69), Dorothy S. Vincent (‘07), Edwin C. Watters (‘83), Martha Wilkinson (‘83), and Jennie Hutchins Wright (‘99, LD ‘16).
"Career Day is an opportunity for our students to learn a little bit more about the vast array of career opportunities out there," added Vincent. "It is also a great way to not only connect with our alumni and keep them engaged, but to show our students the importance of staying plugged into the Darlington Community and giving back."
Career Day is sponsored biannually by Darlington School’s Alumni Council.
