Diverse Gaming Coalition Seeks to Snuff Out Bullying & Toxicity

We’ve covered tons of charities and non-profit organizations in the past few months, but none are as unique as Diverse Gaming Coalition (DGC). The 501c3 charity, founded by Abbey Sager in 2016, seeks to, “for a change in online and real-life communities through modern concepts and pop culture,” according to their website.

Sager started the charity in 2016 after struggling with bullying in high school herself. The bullying got to the point that, despite a “really amazing,” according to Sager, counselor urging her not to, she dropped out of high school and pursued a GED. The experience inspired Sager to help others who might be going through the same issues in school or online. As a growing organization, Sager admits she, “does it all” within DGC, from spearheading new initiatives, to maintaining current programs, running the group’s media presence, wrangling volunteers, and tons more, though she says she’s trying to change that. “The charity is very grassroots,” Sager said, “but I’m trying to delegate work more.” DGC currently only has volunteers on staff with Sager, but she mentioned her desire to bring some staff on to assist her with daily operations.

We chatted with Sager a bit about the difficulties with running a small organization alone, comparing it to a small business. Without realizing it, Sager said her entrepreneurial instincts came from her grandfather, who ran a furniture store in Bergen County, New Jersey for decades. She also credited the many lawyers in her family, including her father, for the work ethic as well.

The Work They Do

Despite it being in the name, Diverse Gaming Coalition isn’t just about gaming. In fact, many of DGC’s initiatives revolve around programs which take place in schools, colleges, summer camps, or anywhere that might be struggling with toxicity or bullying inside of it. Sager told us they do so through their “Life on the Outside” project, “a story about high schooler Asher Phoenix struggling with bullying, mental health, friendships, and their identity. Along the way, they meet new people, conquers new emotions, and learn more about themselves.”

After reading the comic together, volunteers from the organization will educate attendees on the topics the comic covers, then field questions from the audience. “I would say about 90 percent of the time,” Sager said about the assemblies, “we find someone who is being bullied or is a bully.” Post-assembly, Student Ambassadors will be selected to continue anti-bullying efforts through discussion and moderation.

For online issues, DGC offers the “Diverse Gamers” communities on Discord and Steam. According to the DGC website, these communities consist of, “a group of nerds from all around the globe enjoying their days free from bullying and harassment, while meeting new friends. Our groups are a safe-space, and go through a vetting-process before allowed to join.” These groups, according to Sager, are brought up when individuals approach DGC with difficult, toxic online experiences and are looking for a group of inclusive teammates with which to play games. The matchmaking helps players avoid in-game harassment or bullying. “In a perfect world,” Sager said, “games would have tools to immediately deal with harassment. They don’t, so that’s where we step in.” Sager mentioned that there are tools in place for more serious cases, but those solutions have thankfully never been utilized yet.

Lastly is the “Streaming for Good” ambassadors program, which consists of “a network of streamers promoting their platform for the well-being of their audience. This initiative was brought up among all the negativity and stress that is revolved around streaming.” Interested streamers can join Demonstarr13 and Kor Savage Gaming as ambassadors by applying to the program here.

Both Sides of the Coin

Working in both online and offline spaces is often a challenge, but Sager mentioned to us that both environments offer positive results as well. “For online interaction, it’s easier to find people who are struggling, and we have more versatile means to reach them,” Sager said. “But people can be harsher online because of the anonymity factor, so we do receive a ton of backlash for the work we do. But, we always persevere, even through the worst of it, because someone’s always getting it worse than us.” Offline, Sager admits that while sometimes the work is a bit easier face-to-face, “our work might not be the best for every situation, especially when it comes to bullies retaliating against the bullied.” Sager also mentioned the challenges facing school faculty maintaining tabs on the situation, whether it’s because of a negative attitude or due to a lack of budget or time due to other cases sprouting up. That being said, Sager said results are easier to achieve in-person, as individuals are more likely to open up face-to-face, and when staff are involved, cases can be resolved much quicker than online.

It’s important to note that DGC also does work with those who might be called “bullies” to try and reform their abusive behavior. “You want to approach them with understanding,” Sager said, “you don’t know what’s going on with them.”

How To Help

There are a number of different ways to help support the Diverse Gaming Coalition and their initiatives. If you’re part of a like-minded organization that would like to collaborate, you can participate in their “Partner Projects” as fellow groups 8-Bit Hearts and Freshwater Gaming have done, through their application form.You can also apply to be a writer for the DGC Blog, and have your experiences and opinions shared to their readers. If you’re more of a reader, you can sign up for their organizational newsletter and “Take the Pledge” to, “promote kindness, compassion, and unity in [your] community.” Or, you can help the old-fashioned way, by donating to the charity directly. The proceeds go towards current and future initiatives, including appearances, streams, events, anda series of toolkits that will better assist organizations who struggle with harassment and bullying.

For more from Diverse Gaming Coalition, follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch to stay up-to-date with the group’s various appearances, events, charity streams, and more. For more incredible gaming charities, check out the work the Gamers Outreach Coalition did with their Gamers for Giving charity event!