1,000 Dreams Fund was thrilled to recently announce the Year 5 return of our ground-breaking BroadcastHER Academy Esports & Gaming Fellowship (powered by Allied Gaming & Entertainment and HyperX) and our first three Fellows to the program this year, including @simplyheidi.

This 22-year-old is currently in her last semester at college and will be graduating with a degree in Marketing. But her passion is in content creation and gaming, having built up her own loyal community on Twitch. She’s streaming full-time and wants to pursue a career path in the industry. 

Our BroadcastHER Academy was created just for individuals like Heidi (@simplyheidi), which is why we were thrilled to have Heidi join us in Las Vegas for our first BroadcastHER Academy Fellow Trip of 2023.

@simplyheidi

The program offers an awesome prize package for our Fellows to help accelerate their success and progress towards their dream careers in gaming and esports, including a $1,000 grant; an all-expense paid trip to the HyperX Arena Las Vegas to spend a day with the Allied GamingTeam; a mentorship session with an executive from one of our partners; and HyperX gear.

As always, it was an inspiring day of mentorship with our partners at Allied Gaming & Entertainment and HyperX, job shadowing with the Allied team, and so much more. Heidi, along with the other visiting Fellows, even got a mentorship session with Allied’s CEO Yinghua Chen!

From left to right: Christie Garton, 1,000 Dreams Fund Founder & CEO ; Yinghua Chen, Allied Gaming & Entertainment CEO; @ResleyGG; @simplyheidi, @Candi.

Being adept at storytelling, Heidi documented her entire experience with a vlog about her experience and the game-changing trip — where you might catch a few hints about her obsessed with Marvel and iced chai (and Taylor Swift, too!).

The action-packed day in Vegas included a tour of the HyperX Arena, a virtual focus group with HyperX mentors, a special Q&A and mentor session with the Allied Gaming & Entertainment CEO, onstage recognition to accept her grant check, tournament production, and so much more!

“The best moment for me was getting to speak with people who had similar interests to me and how they were able to turn those interests into a career,” says Heidi.

“I discovered so much about opportunities that I can take advantage of to help me start a career in gaming. One of the careers that stood out to me was the ‘community manager’ position, which is a position that I had no idea about!”

@simplyheidi ‘s “On-Stage Moment” where she accepted her big check at the HyperX Area!

As for what’s up next for Heidi, she told us her game plan is to start searching for career opportunities and continue streaming on Twitch. “I cannot wait to pursue a career within the gaming industry!” she added.

We’re so inspired by Heidi — and we hope you are, too! We love seeing young women chasing their dreams in the broadcasting and gaming space and beyond.

To learn more about 1,000 Dreams Fund and how you can support our work to fuel the deserving dreams of talented women, click here.