Brandi Glover, Live Streaming and Gaming Specialist at Wounded Warrior Project
In Career Spotlight, we interview professional women in the gaming industry to show our readers the many ways it’s possible to create a career and a life in gaming and esports.
Brandi Glover, photo courtesy of the subject
This week we interview Brandi Glover, Live Streaming and Gaming Specialist at Wounded Warrior Project. She told us about her job as Live Streaming and Gaming Specialist, the incredible work Wounded Warrior Project does, and the healing and community that gaming can provide.
Could you tell us a bit about Wounded Warrior Project and how it uses Live Streaming and Gaming as part of its programming and fundraising?
Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) was founded in 2003 with a goal to serve post 9/11 veterans who have incurred an injury, illness or wound from service. Wounded Warrior Project offers life-saving programs and services to warriors and their families including mental health care, career counseling and long-term rehabilitative care. WWP Play: Stream to Serve was created in 2018 to provide a unique opportunity for streamers interested in getting connected and raising awareness and critical funds for WWP by doing what they love. When the pandemic hit, WWP adapted many of its programs and services to a virtual setting and saw a tremendous increase in participation in live streaming and gaming efforts. Many warriors use gaming to develop camaraderie and stay connected with other warriors while remaining socially distanced. A prime example of how gaming has been used to fuel our mission is through our Discord, which started in March 2020 and now has over 1,800 members. We held our largest female-only gaming event in April 2020 where female warriors joined our Discord server and we played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Jackbox Party Pack/Just Chatting across 3 Discord voice breakout rooms.
What does your job as Live Streaming and Gaming Specialist entail?
My goal is to use my experience and passion for streaming and gaming to build authentic relationships with a variety of live streamers, content creators, and gamers to help honor and empower warriors. I am honored to meet and engage with people to help them activate their ideas and foster their passion for raising awareness and critical funds for our nation’s wounded warriors. The support they provide is what helps us serve warriors because warriors never pay a penny for our programs or services. Whether it is through a brainstorming session, tuning-in live, providing technical support, or just chatting, I pride myself on showing everyone that WWP Play: Stream to Serve is a two-way relationship and we love to connect, engage and help them succeed!
What skills do you think you use the most in your work?
Clear organization, active-listening, and humor are all essential in my role! Humor helps break down walls and put smiles on everyone’s faces (I’m quite the GIF queen) while the other two skills allow me to show each person that I value their time, opinion, background, and experiences. On the nerdy side, I pride myself on being the tech guru supporting supporters, teammates, and warriors!
How do you think gaming is particularly helpful or important to veterans and others recovering from injury and PTSD?
We opened our Discord last year and the response from warriors was immediate. There is always a desire for the camaraderie they felt during their time of service and that desire was highlighted even more during the pandemic. Conversations have frequently led to warriors being connected to crucial programs and services that have helped them during the pandemic. In a WWP survey of the wounded warriors it serves, nearly half of warriors (48%) who play electronic games indicated they do so because it helps them forget their problems.
Do you have any upcoming streaming events at WWP? Can you tell us about them and how we can watch and support?
We do, thank you for asking! On March 8th in celebration of International Women’s Day, Wounded Warrior Project is hosting a special live stream charity event as we increase awareness of the strength and resiliency of female veterans and raise critical funds to support programs and services that empower them to take on their next missions. We’ve partnered with a handful of strong female streamers and will be going live and hosting from our WWP Twitch page. Check out our social media pages below for more information!
Where do you think the future of gaming and streaming is headed? What can we do as fans and supporters to steer that future in the right direction?
I feel strongly that live streaming and gaming will continue to grow exponentially – people crave interaction and cool content. Our role, whether we consider ourselves content creators, professional gamers, supporters, or fans is to continue (or begin, in some cases) to challenge the norms and be willing to adapt each day. We need to ensure it is a space where everyone feels welcomed and heard. One way is by speaking up against cyber-bullying, discrimination, and stereotyping when we see it! As a female gamer, I’d love to see more positive support and opportunities for female-oriented events, female content creators, and professional gamers in order to build a more inclusive community as a whole.
Do you game personally? If so, which games do you play?
I am a “friendly-but-mostly-competitive” player! Gaming was an integral part of my childhood. I have fond memories of my brother and I playing Crash Bandicoot on the PSOne and Donkey Kong 64 while our father was overseas in the United States Air Force. Many levels of life later, my brother currently serves for the United States Air Force across the country from me. Gaming was and still is the only way he and I got along and are able to communicate with some normalcy and frequency (unless it’s Counter Strike, which he refuses to play with me because I take it too seriously). I’m a very social gamer so I play a lot of multi-player games with my top 10 being:
Counter-Strike
Texas Hold’em
Dead by Daylight
Stardew Valley
Ticket to Ride (board games FTW!)
Valorant
PUBG
Escape From Tarkov
Rocket League
Don’t Starve Together
Where can we learn more and get involved?
Injured veterans and their families still need our support. We have 44 a day raising their hands and asking for our help. In my role, I help connect passion with purpose, which in turn provides the services and programs warriors and family members require in their journey. Those we serve never pay a penny for any Wounded Warrior Project program or service because they paid their dues on the battlefield. You can learn more about WWP and how to support at www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
Follow Wounded Warrior Project and Brandi on social media:
Wounded Warrior Project’s Twitter: @wwp
Brandi Glover’s Twitter: @PewPewPorcupine
Twitch: twitch.tv/woundedwarriorproject
And be sure to check out the Wounded Warrior Project website:
Website: www.woundedwarriorproject.org
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