TCGplayer recently partnered with The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) to sponsor the GAMA Horizons Fellowship, a program to support emerging tabletop game publishers, creators, and retail store owners from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The Fellowship, created by the GAMA Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, connects participants with mentors in the industry who help grow their business, while also providing access to grants and resources. At the conclusion of the Fellowship, one publisher and one retailer is selected to each receive an additional $5,000 grant to help create, maintain, and grow their business.

 


TCGplayer provided focused support to retailer fellows and mentors including a brand new Chromebook, Quicklist scanner, TCGplayer apparel, and two resource guides.

Following the conclusion of this year’s fellowship, retailer fellows also have the opportunity to receive one-on-one coaching with a member of the TCGplayer Seller Growth and Success (SGS) team in addition to access to webinars hosted by the TCGplayer SGS team, GAMA, and the Horizons Fellowship curriculum teams. All retailer fellows will also receive discounted TCGplayer Pro Seller fees for six months with access to TCGplayer’s cutting-edge Retail Solutions, including its In-Store Kiosk, Pro Website, and MassPrice tools at reduced rates.


The retailer fellows from the 2022-2023 Horizons Fellowship class include:

Aisha Blake and Benjamin Lippi of Opal Grove Games
Aisha is a software engineer, singer, and dog lover. Her years of teaching people to code, organizing conferences, and leading communities have given her a solid foundation to build on as a new tabletop retailer. She loves facilitating connections for people through play!

Ben is an engineer and longtime board gamer recently turned retailer. He believes that games are a way for us to grow both individually and as a community. He founded Splendiferous Games together with Aisha to help welcome in and promote more diverse voices within the hobby.

Adrienne Brummet of By The Board Games & Entertainment
Adrienne Brummet is proud owner and operator of By The Board Games & Entertainment in Lowell, Indiana. She started By The Board Games in 2016 as a traveling game store, setting up game nights at local venues and also, as a vintage games restoration and sales company. Hence the inspiration for the name "By The Board" -a nautical nod to things lost and forgotten.

Today, By The Board Games is a conventional game store with functioning tournament and free open play space for the community. She prides her business on being a welcoming place for anybody who is game curious and needs a low pressure environment. Over the past few years, By The Board Games expanded to be part of a local convention and, in this partnership, she was inspired to help establish a non-profit charity that serves the community and boosts the awareness of local game stores. She looks forward to what this next chapter unfolds.

Allie Champion and Ryan Champion of Shiba Games
Allie Champion opened Shiba Games in August of 2019 with her husband Ryan. The shop is named after their three Shiba Inus, and the logo is modeled after their first Shiba, WiFi.

They moved their shop from Downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street to Henderson, a more family friendly area of the Las Vegas Valley in August of 2020. They are striving to grow into an inclusive space for everyone to come and play.

Paola Gorden of Meeples & Beyond
Paola is the owner of Meeples and Beyond along with her husband Mark. They both have worked in the medical field with zero background in business and a small circle of friends. Her goal is to create a friendly board game community that even people who don't know anything about board games can be comfortable enough to start, learn, and engage in playing light to deeper games.

They own a 850sq ft store in a shopping center and are primarily a retail store, with one table in store. They do game demos, D&D night, and Flesh and Blood tournaments by partnering with neighboring stores like BOBA tea shop that offer their tables for them.

David Plamondon of Pe Metawe Gaming
David Plamondon is the Team Guide and one of the co-founders of Pe Metawe Games, located in Amiskwaciwâskahikan, or Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Pe Metawe translates from Cree to "come and play" which is meant as an invitation to gamers of all kinds to come and enjoy the community space offered adjacent to a curated retail space. Pe Metawe Games seeks to provide a safe and welcoming space as well as being an active proponent for decolonization in the tabletop hobby.



David Plamondon was awarded an additional $5,000 grant at the conclusion of the Fellowship to help accelerate their business growth.

Mentors who participated in the program include Jamie Mathy of Red Racoon Games, Kathleen Donohue of Labyrinth Games & Puzzles, Jesse Strommel & Joshua Lee (Former Horizon Fellows) of PlayForge, Scotia Buchan of A Muse N Games, and Dee Connel of Main Street Fun & Games.

TCGplayer is committed to ensuring local hobby and brick-and-mortar stores have the resources and tools necessary to manage and grow their business. Not only that, but we believe that gaming is a Community For All. The Horizons Fellowship is an ongoing program with a mission to support emerging retailers operated by members of historically underrepresented communities.

Interested in the GAMA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee? Please reach out to GAMA Executive Director john.stacy@gama.org and let them know you’d like to be involved!