Once again, the gaming sector is excited waiting for the winners of a new edition of the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. This year, the show, originally launched in 2010, will have 30 categories (lots of them divided between operators and providers). These prizes are strongly established as some of the global gaming industry’s most prestigious and widely respected diversity events.
As is the case every year, organizing company Clever Duck Media made some changes to the different categories. On the one hand, the B2B Excellence Award category was being divided between ‘Companies’ and ‘Individuals.’ On the other, categories previously separated between operators and suppliers have now become a single award, such as Company of the Year and Young Leader of the Year. There were also categories withdrawn (Best Use of Technology, and Innovation in Employee Engagement), and others added: D&I Wellness Initiative Award, Marketing Campaign of the Year, and The Outstanding Mentor Award.
NOMINATIONS FOR OPERATORS AND SUPPLIERS
At the company level, the most selected operators were Bally’s Interactive (20 nominations), Betsson Group (12), and Entain (11), while William Hill had 4 mentions, Flutter Entertainment 2, and FanDuel 1. Regarding providers, we can cite SOFTSWISS (10 nominations), Games Global (4), Digitain (4), Pragmatic Play (4), Sportingtech (1), BGaming (1) and Endorphina (1), among others.
In individual terms, there are several women to highlight. First up is Lena Nordin, experienced Chief HR Officer of the Betsson Group, with 3 nominations: Inspiration of the Year (Operator), Leader of the Year (here she will compete with Amy Howe, the CEO of FanDuel), and Positive Role Model of the Year (Operator). Moreover, Hamest Safaryan (Digitain) was selected in the categories Employee of the Year (Supplier) and Inspiration of the Year (Supplier). From the same company, Aregnaz Hakobyan and Armine Sirunyan are also shortlisted.
SOFTSWISS female executives are well represented, with nominations for Anastasia Borovaya, Aliaksandra Hancharova, Olga Ivanchik, Tatyana Kaminskaya, and Darya Avtukhovich. The same goes for Games Global, which lists among the possible winners Leila Goelz, Angela van den Berg, Kimberley Broad, and Julie Allison. While Ezgi Erturk and Bernie Fedigan appear for Pragmatic Play, Marina Ostrovtsova (BGaming) will compete for the Leader of the Year (Suppliers) award, and Laura Main (Sportingtech) for Star of the Future (Supplier). Also featured is the renowned Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder of relevant organization the All-in Diversity Project, nominated as Industry Achiever (Operator).
The in-person event will take place on June 8th at the Savoy Hotel (London, UK). Here’s the complete list of finalists of the 2023 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards:
1) B2B Excellence Award (Companies)
Betsmart Consulting
BettingJobs
Endorphina
Gamzix
mkodo
Pragmatic Play
SOFTSWISS Marketing Team
Wazdan
2) B2B Excellence Award (Individuals)
Cecelia Harrington – Playtech
Clemnece Dujardin – Myaffiliates
Inna Kaminska – Playtech
Katarina Hudecova – Entain
Lucinda Apostolou – Playtech
Noemi Nemeth – Playtech
Sasha Uman – Playtech
3) Best Diverse Place to Work
Betsson Group
GAMOMAT Development GmbH
Just For The Win
Quickspin AB
Raketech
Rootz Ltd
SOFTSWISS
Wazdan
Yolo Group
4) Community Engagement
Bally’s Interactive – GLoW Network
Bally’s Interactive – Parents Network
Bally’s Interactive – Pride Network
Betsson Group
Gamzix
NeoGames
OpenBet Athens
Pragmatic Play
5) Company of the Year
Aspire Global
Betsson Group
GAMOMAT Development GmbH
Gamzix
Just For The Win
mkodo
Playtech
Quickspin AB
Relax Gaming
SOFTSWISS
Wazdan
6) D&I Wellness Initiative Award
Entain Group
Flutter Entertainment PLC
IGT
NeoGames
Playtech
7) Diversity & Inclusion
Aspire Global
Betsson Group
Design Works Gaming
Entain Group
IGT
Playtech
Relax Gaming
8) Diverse and Inclusive Team of the Year
Betsson Communications Team
Light & Wonder
Wazdan
9) Employee Network of the Year
Bally’s Interactive – GLoW Network
Bally’s Interactive – Parents Network
Bally’s Interactive – Pride Network
10) Employee of the Year (Operator)
Andrea David – Metropolitan Gaming
Graciella Anthony – Entain
Rebecca Herd – LiveScore Group
Sandra Vask – Yolo
11) Employee of the Year (Supplier)
Alexandra Cordell – L&W
Christine Parkhill – Push Gaming
Elena Danischuk – Playtech
Fabienne Bourgaize – Eyecon
Hamest Safaryan – Digitain
Jo Bentley – Playtech
Jovana Popovic Canaki – Aspire Global
Katherine Dowling- Playtech
Liina Pruulmann – Playtech
Stephanie Quiles – IGT
Yumiko Lundh – Quickspin
12) Employee Wellbeing Award
Agnes Saaren – Yolo
BETBY
Betsson Group
Design Works Gaming
Entain
Gwen Wilkie – L&W
Shelley Moore – Metropolitan Gaming
SOFTSWISS
Wazdan
13) Excellence in Customer Service (Operator)
Beatrice Pace – Casumo
Betsson Group
Cristina Rahuoja – Yolo
Danielle Robertson – LiveScore Group
Ele Kohv – Yolo
Latam Team – Bally’s
14) Excellence in Customer Service (Supplier)
BETBY
Elaine Newton – Playtech
Margo Redko – Gamzix
Mary Taing – L&W
SOFTSWISS
Trisha Parker – L&W
Wazdan Account Management Team
15) HR Champion Award
Angela Sammut – Greentube
Anna Alexson – Quickspin
Christine Hili – Rootz
Gemma Duncan – Bally’s Interactive
Katie Byers – L&W
Leila Goelz – Games Global
Margaret Proven – Pollard Banknote
Piret Ploom – Yolo
Sue Dawson – LiveScore Group
Zoe Darla – OpenBet
16) Industry Achiever (Operator)
Alexe Reichert – 888Holdings
Christina Thakor-Rankin
Claire Archer – Bally’s Interactive
Nicola Newman – Bally’s Interactive
Tracy Damestani – Ambassadeurs Group
17) Industry Achiever (Supplier)
Anastasia Borovaya – SOFTSWISS
Christine Lewis – Lion Gaming
Fiona Hickey – Push Gaming
Jody Rempel – ArdentSky
Johanna Pettersson – Just For The Win
Magdalena Podhorska-Okolow – L&W
Ramya Pulipati- IGT
Shelley Hannah – Relax Gaming
Siobhan Lane – L&W
18) Innovator
Aliaksandra Hancharova – SOFTSWISS
Design Works Gaming
Entain Group
Lida Kosohova – Gamzix
Lion Gaming
Olga Glebiv Evoplay
Olga Ivanchik – SOFTSWISS
19) Inspiration of the Year (Operator)
Audrey Dunn – Metropolitan Gaming
Christine Chou – Bally’s Interactive
Emma Lee – Tombola
Jacqueline Neo – Yolo
Kate Parker – LiveScore
Lena Nordin – Betsson Group
Lorena Puentes – Bally’s Interactive
Lynne Stevens – Metropolitan Gaming
Megan Horsham – Bally’s Interactive
Natalija Bezubova – Entain
20) Inspiration of the Year (Supplier)
Angela van den Berg – Games Global
Aregnaz Hakobyan – Digitain
Connie James – L&W
Elena Rousseva – Playtech
Hamest Safaryan – Digitain
Linn Lange – Quickspin
Magdalena Wojdyla – Wazdan
Sabine Müller – Gamomat
Stefania Colombo – IGT
Tina Luchyn – OpenBet
21) Leader of the Year (Operators)
Alona Orehova – SkyBetting
Amy Howe – FanDuel
Bruna Pereira – Bally’s Interactive
Laura Craddock – Buzz Bingo
Lena Nordin – Betsson Group
Rani Wynn – LiveScore Group
22) Leader of the Year (Suppliers)
Armine Sirunyan – Digitain
Denisa Delareve – Push Gaming
Dr Alexandra Krone – Gamomat
Julie Allison – Games Global
Marina Ostrovtsova – BGaming
Roxane Scicluna – Greentube
Sandra Dmitrijeva – Playtech
Sue Dawson – L&W
Tatyana Kaminskaya – SOFTSWISS
23) Marketing Campaign of the Year
Bally’s
Entain
Entain Returnship
Evoplay – Football Pack Marketing Campaign
ITHUBA Holdings
Yolo Group
24) Positive Role Model of the Year (Operator)
Alexe Reichert – William Hill
Kat McGurk – Flutter Entertainment
Lena Nordin – Betsson Group
Pallavi Madishetty – Entain
Rani Wynn – LiveScore Group
Taylor Hasim – Bally’s Interactive
25) Positive Role Model of the Year (Supplier)
Ash Hagen – Quickspin
Barbara Batari – Just For The Win
Dana Jackel – L&W
Ericka Mazer – L&W
Kimberley Broad – Games Global
Nat Brewer – Push Gaming
Olha Ihnatiuk – Quickspin
Undral Ganbold – Mkodo
26) Star of the Future (Operator)
Elizabith Crutchfield – Entain
Erika Montebello – Betsson Group
Esther Lau – William Hill
Jill Bergforth – William Hill
Krisseliine Pärt – Yolo
Natalie Manning – LiveScore
Rugile Svadzge – Metropolitan Gaming
Taylor Hasim – Bally’s Interactive
Tyanah Graham – Bally’s Interactive
27) Star of the Future (Supplier)
Agustina Lopez – Quickspin
Bernie Fedigan – Pragmatic Play
Cosmina Nicolae – Playtech
Elitsa Nicholson – L&W
Iryna Matvieieva – Quickspin
Laura Main – Sportingtech
Nora Österlund – Mobinc
Runa Desai – OpenBet
28) The Outstanding Mentor Award
Carla Souter – Bettingjobs
Cherry Lou Morcilla – Bally’s Interactive
Hillory McDaniel – Design Works
Izabela Slodkowska-Popiel – Wazdan
Jon Michael Seddon – 888 William Hill
Kajal Verma – Push Gaming
Maria Loumpourdi – Betsson Group
Taylor Hasim – Bally’s Interactive
Vladimir Malakchi – Evoplay
29) Young Leader of the Year
Alexandra Domingo – Bally’s Interactive
Alice Timson – Realistic Games
Anastasiia Poliakova – Casumo
Danielle Catalan – Blank Rome LLP
Darya Avtukhovich – SOFTSWISS
Ellen Kerbey – SITA
Ezgi Erturk- Pragmatic Play
Lida Kosohova – Gamzix
Marina Marinova – UltraPlay
Sophie Jones – Metropolitan Gaming
30) Industry Pride of the Year
This award will be selected by the judges, and will go to one exceptional woman whose vision, innovative approach and success make her an outstanding role model that will inspire more women to choose a career in the land-based or iGaming industry.