WOMEN IN GAMING ONES TO WATCH 2023

The 8th March 2023 is the date celebrating International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion we have selected nine amazing women from previous Women in Gaming (WIG) Diversity & Inclusion Awards of note. These women have the promise or are leaders in their own company, they were voted by the WIG judges as winners and today, the day we celebrate women all over the world we name these nine leading women to achieve great things within the gaming industry.

Of course the WIG has recognised so many great ladies over the 12 years of its existence and they are all amazing however on this day we highlight just a few to look out for in the year and years to come.

So in no particular order: in those years and is one to watch as her career progression is certainly on the way up. tube she her as a rising star within the compliance sector.

Oana-Adina won the Positive Role Model of the Year award in 2022 in what was a highly competitive category showing their in much more to come from this lady.

Josephine Hellström is General Manager at Casumo and won the Young Leader of the Year Award in 2022. Josephine has worked for Casumo which was founded in 2012 and headquartered in Malta, Casumo is an innovative, award-winning and mobile-first online gaming group, providing fun and safe casino and sportsbook products for more than 6 years. Josephine has risen rapidly through the company

Oana-Adina Rusu is currently Head of Group Compliance at Greentube having worked for the company for just over three years beginning in the role as Head of Market Compliance until working her way up to her current role. Oana-Adina studied law at University and Green-

Malin Dahlman won the Positive Role Model of the Year in 2022 in the Operator category, Malin has worked for more than 10 years with

ComeOn Group and in her nomination from colleagues this is what was said: Malin truly deserves this recognition, not only is she a fantastic brand manager taking great care of our highly popular and locally known Swedish brand Casinostugan, she is also a fantastic coworker, role model and leader.

Malin knows this industry inside out, with a long career history as a copywriter, CRM-specialist and brand strategist she has widely spread knowledge across many areas of iGaming. It’s not a coincidence that we call her Wonder Woman. But this is not what is most impressive about Malin, what is truly her strongest superpower is how she is always helping and enabling others, how even on a rainy day (and there’s quite a few in London) spreads a good vibe and makes work more fun for the people around her.

Praise indeed and we can see why our judges voted for this lady, there is much more to come also from Malin and we will be watching to see how she continues her successful career.

Victoria studied at Oxford for law and began her career at IGT as Senior Legal Counsel until making her way rapidly to her current role. Victoria won the Leader of the Year in the Supplier category in 2022 and her background in law promises to see her rise even further within her career.

Victoria Dolan is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at IGT and has been with the company for nearly 6 years working in the UK.

Kimberley Broad is the Chief Compliance Officer at Games Global for nearly 1 ½ years and previously was Director of Compliance at Microgaming for more than 6 years and has been in compliance for almost 8 years in total. Kimberley won the Inspiration of the Year award at the WIG Diversity Awards in 2022 and in her nomination form the company wrote: It’s with great enthusiasm that the rest of Games Global eagerly await the results of having such an inspirational leader as Kim in their midst. As a passionate professional, Kim will no doubt spur on the development of not just the compliance team, but the business as a whole, as she actively supports the perusal of ongoing education to supplement career development and maintains her open-door policy with the return to the office environment.

Christine Lewis is CEO of Bombay Group which is part of the Yolo Group, Christine was awarded the Innovator of the Year at the WIG 2022, Christine has more than a decade working within the gaming industry in such companies as NetEnt and Pariplay prior to joining the fast growing Yolo Group. She is an inspiration to many others standing as CEO shows that hard work and dedication can pay off in the right environment.

Ciara Nic Liam is quickly becoming a legend within the gaming industry, she works as Gaming Product Director for gambling giant Entain. Before this Ciara worked for Betsson, William Hill, Rank Group and PaddyPower. With some 13 years working in highly respected companies Ciara has built herself a strong CV and has been highly valued wherever she has worked. In 2022 Ciara was awarded the Employee of the Year at the WIG Awards, no surprise given her excellent work ethic. Many within the gaming industry believe this lady is tipped for a top job in the not too distant future.

Sabine Müller is the Chief Design Officer at Gamomat and won the Industry Pride of the Year at the WIG Diversity in 2022. Sabine has worked for over 20 years in design and creativity industry and over 3 ½ years for Gamomat. In her companies nomination for Sabine they wrote of worked for over 20 years in design and creativity industry and over 3 ½ years for Gamomat. In her companies nomination for Sabine they wrote of her; In order to encourage everybody to openly express themselves Sabine has created a format called “What’s hot - What’s not“, training them to be open, and speak on subjects that are important to them. Sabine has also initiated the implementation of the GAMOMAT podcast interviews in which real “GAMOMATIES“ reveal themselves in an extraordinarily personal way.

Gamomat are very proud of Sabine and from her style of work with employees you can understand why.

Laura Peretta works at Betsson as Head of Supplier Relations and won the Young Leader of the Year Award at the 2021 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. In a recent interview with Laura she said that winning the award “had changed her life”. She says now her colleagues and peers look at her in a more professional manner, that is what it means to win an award at the WIG Diversity Awards. Laura has worked within the gaming industry for nearly 6 years now and almost always for Betsson. She says that the company provide an excellent platform for women and diversity to flourish and grow. We are certain there is much more to come from Laura in the future and the WIG Diversity look forward to one day selecting her as a Leader within the industry.

Leila (Ashton) Goelz is Chief People & Transformation Officer at Games Global and has extensive experience within HR with companies such as The Stars Group and Microgaming spanning some 15 years. Leila’s passion is Human Resources her company wrote of her in her nominations for the WIG Diversity Awards in 2022; Leila believes in the power of transformation; a view she imparts upon all teams with whom she interacts. Acquiring top degrees and accreditations, Leila ensures learning, coaching and development remain at the forefront across all aspects of the business. No stranger to the necessity for continued learning and professional development – regardless of age or position –Leila continues to add strings to her leadership bow through ongoing study and internationally recognised accreditation. Her commitment to seeing her colleagues grow, both as individuals and as members of the business, is both humbling and inspiring.

Leila has not at present won an award at the WIG Diversity, she has attended and supported her colleagues many times at the awards but not at present received an award, which shows you how competitive and amazing the women who win are. But Leila is always ranked highly by the WIG Diversity and it is only a matter of when not if that Leila will be receiving her own Gold Star.

Barbara Batári is Head of Marketing at Just For The Win and has worked at the company for just over 3 ½ years, prior to that Barbara worked for Novomatic. Barbara acquired a Masters Degree in Business prior to launching her career. In 2021 Barbara won the Employee of the Year Award at the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, showing that this lady is highly valued by her peers at Just For The Win, will it be long before she wins Leader of the Year? Watch this space.

Lena Nordin is Chief HR Office at Betsson Group and is a huge driver and supporter of equality and diversity within not just her company but within the industry. Lena and Betsson helped launch the companies Diversity & Inclusion Network in Malta and in London to huge success. Lena has also helped Betsson with their strategy to focus on employees which has made Betsson one of the best employers within the gaming industry. Lena won the award for Leader of the Year in

Irina Cornides is Chief Operating Officer at Pragmatic Play. Named ‘Leader of the Year’ (operator) at our 2018 awards, Irina occupied executive roles at some of the industry’s fastest-growing gaming brands before bringing her wealth of knowledge and experience to award-winning provider Pragmatic Play. We’ve long been inspired by Irina’s leadership qualities, and we feel she’s in the perfect position at Pragmatic to make an even greater impact.

2021 and has been a strong supporter of the WIG Diversity Awards for many years, we look forward to seeing Lena and all her colleagues again in June.

Alexe Reichert is Director of Creative Services at 888/William Hill & Mr Green, Alexe has worked for Mr Green for nearly 10 years and prior to that Betsson in a career spanning over 11 years. With mergers and acquisitions within the sector Alexe

The Women in Gaming Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2023, takes place on the 8th June at the Savoy Hotel and will be the 12th edition of this innovative and original event has remained with the enlarged company and held roles from Head of Marketing Operations, Head of Creative Services and now Director. Clearly this lady is held in high esteem with the company and back in 2019 Alexe impressed the judges to win the Leader of the Year Award at the WIG Diversity Awards. Highly skilled, talented, motivated and a true leader were points mentioned within the application for the award. outstanding role model that will inspire others.” Lucy has always shown those traits and her and Playtech’s support of the Women in Gaming Diversity is testimony to how the company values their people. of the Year in 2019 at the Women in Gaming Diversity award. Christine has come a long way since her time then at Jackpotjoy, prior to that Christine worked for Betsson and now after three years with Gamesys is Director of Retention for the new owners of Gamesys Bally’s. The WIG Diversity judges know a great employee when they see one and that was 4 years agon now and shows how well Christine has done in the following years.

Lucy Owen is someone has made a huge impression on the industry and most notably Playtech where she has worked for going on 10 years, Lucy has be rewarded for her dedication and talent within Playtech by climbing the career ladder from UK Customer Relations Manager on 2010 to now VP of Commercial at the gaming software giant. In this fast paced and ever changing industry Lucy has shown that you can remain at the same company for a long time and find success so long as you have the talent to succeed. Lucy won the Industry Pride of the Year Award, to win this award the category description says, “This award goes to one exceptional person whose vision, innovative approach and success make them an

Jeriel Bacani, hit the spotlight in 2018 when she won our ‘Hidden Talent of the Year’ award. Starting her gaming career at Microgaming before moving to Bally’s Interactive, Jeriel is now Head of Brand and Communications at leading provider Pragmatic Play. Knowing how driven, intelligent and talented Jeriel is, we don’t think she’ll have to wait long for a second Women in Gaming Diversity Awards win.

Christine Chou is Director of Retention & Player Engagement at Bally’s and won the award for employee

Chu Yook Liew won the Industry Pride of the Year at the 2021 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, which was a very emotional time for the lady who is Creative Director & Design Studio Manager at Greentube. This lady lives for design and apart from her 8 years plus in various design roles at Greentube Chu has worked 16 years within the design industry. This ladies path to success has been as challenging as anybody’s could ever be, her story and her road to where she is know was told to an emotional audience in 2021, Chu is an amazing and inspirational women and a truly deserving recipient of Industry Pride.

Jennifer Bowman is the Senior Director Marketing at IGT and has worked for the company for an amazing 23 years, in fact this lady has only worked for IGT in the gaming industry, now that is loyalty!

Jennifer began in the role of Data Coordinator back in 2000 with the company and has progressed all the way to her current position, there is certainly not much Jennifer does not know about her company and indeed the industry. Back in 2021 Jennifer was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution to Gaming at the WIG Diversity Awards, her story of where she started out in life and the huge challenges this lady faced are remarkable and to make it to a senior Director within a multi-national company is testament to her strength and character.

Lena Yasir Vice President at Pragmatic Play, is an ardent supporter of the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. Winner of our ‘Leader of the Year’ (supplier) award back in

2018, she has since helped to build a hugely successful international team at Pragmatic Play, one of the leading game suppliers in the industry. Her passion for supporting equality, diversity and inclusion across the industry is second to none.