Twitch has teamed up with charity organization The 1,000 Dreams Fund to help promote up-and-coming female streamers on the platform. By offering financial grants, Twitch hopes to sustain and support these channels.

The goal of these grants is to help women succeed despite the gender gap in the streaming industry. According to a 2016 study, women make up 35 percent of Twitch's streamers, and the industry remains predominantly male.

“Many of the problems women face are because of lack of respect,” caster Tina “shadowfoxx086” Degenhart told Polygon. “But gaming is just another platform that we shouldn’t shy away from. The industry won’t understand how to treat women if we don’t show them how to treat women.”

The 1,000 Dreams Fund aims to award grants to at least two high school or college students each semester, ranging from $500 to $2,000. The grant money aims to help fund streamers' equipment, travel expenses for conferences, workshops, and more. The organization is also hosting a livestream next week to bring awareness to the campaign. Titled Streams for Dreams, the event will begin on March 1 and run through April 1.

You can read more about the cause by heading to The 1,000 Dreams Fund's website.

[Source: Polygon]

Our Take

The games industry as a whole is still predominantly male, and I'm always excited to hear about initiatives that help immerse women or young girls into the competitive field. Video game streaming is only growing in popularity, and creating avenues to help women find success despite the gender gap can make for a promising future.