| Board of Directors |
Administration |
Moderators |
| John Benfield, President |
Harold W, Administrator |
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| Brad D, Vice-President |
James W, Webmaster |
John O, OLGA |
| Liz Woolley, Treasurer/Founder |
Bruce Wright, Grandfather |
Joyce P, OLG-Anon |
| Katey W, Secretary |
Anna Meenan, Medical Liason |
Diana M, OLGA |
| Jane F, Member-at-Large |
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Site Username: John of the Roses John found OLGA in December of 2006. His involvement with uncontrollable excessive gaming began in 2000. John has been a guild leader in Everquest, and also played World of Warcraft. He has been in NA for ten years. John believes that Olganon.org is a safe place for all who wish to recover. Since joining OLGA, John has been moderating weekly on-line meetings and posting his experience, strengths and hopes with other excessive gamers and their family members and friends. John is married to a member of OLG-Anon and loves to tend his rose garden in Florida.
As President of Olganon World Service, John believes in the structuring of the organization to comply fully with 501C3 guidelines. John believes the future of the Fellowship & the organization lies within the startup & support of new chapters across the land& by continuing to explore new methods of recovery for the excessive gamer & their family & friends.^Back to Top^
Site Username: bgh Brad joined OLGA in March of 2003, and in November of 2008 founded our Canadian chapter, located in London, Ontario. His history of compulsive online gaming goes back to a time of tremendous stress in his professional life, beginning in 1999. Brad began playing first person shooters and role playing games 60-80 hours per week. This further damaged his mental health and cost him his career. Brad has told his story on the Dr. Phil Show and in national media in Canada, hoping to raise awareness of gaming addiction and the merits of the OLGA 12-Step program. In his spare time, Brad enjoys time spent spent at his church teaching English to new Canadians with his wife, and blogging about his recovery. He has also begun public speaking engagements in Ontario about video game addiction and hopes to get OLGA charitable organization status in Canada. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: lizwool Liz founded On-Line Gamer's Anonymous in 2002, following the suicide death of her son, Shawn after he became addicted to the Everquest computer game. Being in A.A. herself, and appreciating the support she receives there, she chose to share her experience with her son, A.A., C.O.D.A. (Co-dependents Anonymous), and her career, as a foundation to offer a place for people (be it the gamer or the family and friends) who have also been affected by the "dark side" of gaming, to go and support each other, so we know WE ARE NOT ALONE. This brought about the need to create an educational resource so others are aware of the inherent dangers associated with excessive and obsessive game playing. Liz is at the forefront of this educational movement, and receives a constant barrage of letters, phone calls and requests from others who are trying to understand the nature of this problem and how they can repair what excessive gaming has broken. Liz has been in the computer field for over 20 years and has served as a software developer, system's analyst and technical support analyst. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: Solei Before her days of compulsive gaming, Katey was an outgoing, vibrant woman with an active social life. When the stress of life became difficult to handle, she found solace in Ultima Online and World of Warcraft. Katey found herself immersed in the social environment that the online realms had to offer. After about four years of gaming, she noticed her health and social life depreciating. Quitting and uninstalling these games was one of the most difficult things she had ever done. It was shortly after that she found this wonderful support community and began offering her own support and advice to other struggling gamers. Katey has been a member of the organization since July of 2006. Katey has a B.A. in History, loves her job as a second grade school teacher, and is wife to our Webmaster, James. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: gsingjane Jane has been an OLGA-Non member since June 2007, when she first sought help for her son. She is dedicated to spreading the word about gaming addiction, especially to parents of children and teenagers, and will also be assisting with OLGA-Non World Services. In her "other" life, Jane is a stay at home mother to four children, an avid outdoorsperson, and enjoys running, hiking and cooking. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: BigH501 Harold, a recovering gamer, came to OLGA December of 2006 when his marriage and his life fell apart due in large part to his excessive gaming. Harold has been gaming as one of his primary hobbies since 1981. He never had an issue where it affected his life until he got involved the MMORPG, EverQuest. Now he has sworn off MMORPG's as not being "safe" for him to play but will occasionally enjoy an hour here and there on a console game. Harold now serves as an administrator here on OLGA. He works to help keep things running and offers what ever insight he may have based on what he has learned here about himself and on his ever continuing road to recovery. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: JamesW James is the current webmaster of OLGA / OLG-Anon. He designed and put together all of the technical aspects of the site using content provided from the community and our staff members. Though he has no formal training or certificates, James has maintained interest in web design for many years and considers it a hobby. He took on the massive OLGA / OLG-Anon website project because as a former excessive gamer, he fully understands and supports the mission of the organization. James continuously expands on his post-secondary education on a part-time basis and works full-time in the credit card processing industry. James is married to Katey W, another member of our staff. They live together in South Florida and hope to start a family in the near future. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: Xandtar Bruce has been an OLGA member since April of 2003. He was the Charter President of OLGA/OLG-Anon World Services, Inc., a legally recognized charity under U.S. code 501c, from August 2007 to July 2009. Bruce's gaming addiction started before personal computers and went through the TRS-80 through Apple II's, Macs, and eventually online. Bruce is a generalist. He went through a few MMOs like Runescape but at his worst he couldn't handle winmine . His gaming experiences also included non-computer games such as Dungeons & Dragons, board-based wargames, and Diplomacy. Somehow in the midst of his addiction Bruce managed to get a Ph.D. and he currently serves as a faculty member at a medical school. He is a strong believer in the relationship between gambling addiction and on-line gaming addiction and in the twelve steps as a model for recovery. As Past President of OLGA/OLG-Anon World Services Inc., Bruce serves in an advisory capacity to the current President and Board, but he no longer makes day-to-day decisions. He continues to serve as a moderator/administrator on the message board and he often works with new moderators to help them learn the art of board maintenance. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: Gamersmom Anna has been a forum member since July 2006. She came to OLG-Anon to find answers when her son became addicted to the World of Warcraft while in college. Anna has an academic interest in the subject of computer gaming addiction, as she is a family physician and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at a medical school. Anna is concerned for the future of our world as the best and the brightest of our children are becoming lost in computer games. She wants to reach out to all parents of gamers to help them bring their children back to the Real World. Anna is the proud mother of three children, ages 25, 22, and 20. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: J. DOe
Site Username: WoW Parent Joyce has been a member since May 2006. OLGA/OLG-Anon provided her with support and advice when she observed dramatic changes in her son once he began playing World of Warcraft. Her personal mission is to make parents aware of the potentially addictive nature of games, especially MMORPGs. She has been a guest speaker for parent groups and takes every opportunity to inform others of her experience. Joyce holds a Masters degree in Education and her profession is training and development. She has spent the past 10 years developing quality management systems for businesses of all sizes. She plans to use that experience to help develop OLGA/Online Gamers Anonymous Worldwide Services. ^Back to Top^
Site Username: kidsnut Diana has joined the staff to help with the many tasks the organization is working on. She has been a member of Al-anon, NA, Nar-anon, and recently OA. She has experience planning and working on large 12 Step conventions. She has been an OLGA member since February 2007 after receiving reprimands at her job for not doing her paperwork. She has been gaming since college in 1992 and has never owned her own computer until she inherited her father's in 2004. Diana will not get internet at home for fear she may get hooked on the games at home and suffer as other members have. Diana loves to work with families with special children and counseling them about feeding and nutrition. Most of her successful techniques were learned from her many years in 12 Step groups and working the steps. ^Back to Top^
Previous year staff members: 2008-2009
Left to right: John Benfield, President; Katey W, Secretary; Liz Woolley, Treasurer/Founder Via webcam: Brad D, Vice-President Not pictured: Jane F, Member-at-Large Not all of the staff are pictured, as anonymity is allowed and encouraged for ALL those who wish it. Suffice to say that the senior administrators include MMO gamers, non-MMO gamers, parents of gamers, spouses of gamers, and one very quiet webmaster. The senior staff listed below are representative of the rest.