About GameChanger

Ryan Polun is the Head of SPORTFIVE’s Esports and Gaming unit, overseeing the Americas Region. The agency holds a significant position across the global esports and gaming industry and was responsible in 2021 for generating more than $50 million in partnership revenue. Ryan has over 12 years of experience – the last five being in esports and gaming. Before his appointment as the Head of Esports at SPORTFIVE, Ryan spent 2 years at RSE Ventures portfolio company Ascendant. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ryan lives in New York City with his wife Molly – whose father succumbed to cancer in 2018.

Brent Carlson is a Silicon Valley executive with 25-years of sales and marketing experience. Currently a Sr. Client Partner at Reddit, Inc., he has advised virtually every major gaming publisher and developer during his career. An accomplishment he is most proud of is receiving his MBA with Honors from St. Mary’s College of California, while starting a new job and raising a toddler at home. The power of positive thinking – across both his personal and professional life – is his driving force and a favorite quote is, “Success without integrity is failure.” Brent is a Husband & Father first. He is also a photographer, drone pilot, pontoon boat captain and proud to say that he has survived a lightning strike. Brent has been assisting with GameChangers’s marketing strategy since February 2021 and he is honored to be on the Board of Advisors, where he is proud to put his energy towards helping the charity achieve its mission of helping sick and hospitalized children everywhere.

Tom Giardino works at Valve, the video game studio responsible for franchises like Half-Life and Counter-Strike. Tom’s work at Valve revolves around Steam, the PC gaming store and platform. Tom first began working with GameChanger after meeting Jim Carol at the Valve headquarters, coming away inspired and excited about what GameChanger was doing to help sick and hospitalized children. He has served on the Board of Advisors since 2016.

Paige Bonomi is a member of the Global Sales and Partnerships team at Team Liquid, one of the largest and most decorated esports organizations in the world. In this role, she spearheads partnerships across Team Liquid’s North American, European and Brazilian professional teams and talent roster.

Prior to Team Liquid, Paige was the first, fully dedicated U.S. hire for the esports and gaming unit at global sports marketing agency, SPORTFIVE, where she played an integral role across many growth verticals within the company. Before SPORTFIVE, she sat on the brand partnerships team at ESL Gaming/DreamHack.

Paige has worked in the esports and gaming space for the last six years, tackling roles across sales and business development, partnership management, product marketing and communications.

With several years’ experience in gaming, Sam moved to New York in 2016 to build the NBA’s strategy for the burgeoning esports industry. Having been an integral part of the design and launch of the NBA 2K League, Sam led the League’s content and media verticals, and was the Executive Producer on all live broadcasts and productions. In 2018, Sam launched OS Gaming, a social venue focused on gamers, content creators and esports; housing state of the art streaming and gaming booths and an industry-leading content agency that was acquired in 2021.

Neil Brosnahan is currently a Senior Business Operations Analyst at Capital Group and has a passion for improving the lives of hospitalized children and their families. As a technologist, gamer, data geek, and leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Neil brings with him 24 years of experience in IT and Business Operations supporting some of the most complex technical environments in the world. Being the youngest of 6 children and having a large extended family, Neil has also shared the experience of having loved ones hospitalized and needing continuous long-term medical care. Being able to bring comfort and joy to hospitalized children and their families – or make their day just a little bit better – is what drives Neil to use his network of fellow caring colleagues, family and friends to make a difference.

Brian Kelly is an accomplished and results-driven STEM leader with over twenty years of progressive and diverse experience in the intersection of business development, science and technology. A self-proclaimed digital nomad, you are most likely to find Brian working and playing Rocket League or CoD near his home in the Rocky Mountains (or at your local rugby pitch).