Gambling – and, more specifically, the realm of iGaming – has long been thought of as a man’s world. Sure, gambling firm executives have been around for decades, women gamblers for centuries even, but in addition to female poker pros and casino founders that struggled to secure their rightful spot among their male peers, some of the most innovative, capable and driven women in this industry are shaping the future of online gambling one groundbreaking action at a time as we speak.
WiG Awards
The Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, for example, honours exactly those ladies by giving them recognition for innovation and extraordinary contribution to the business. So, let’s talk about some of these amazing women for a bit, shall we?
The WiG Awards were first introduced in 2010 ad this year we had the pleasure of following the 9th Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. The titles range from the likes of Outstanding Contribution, Excellence in Customer Service and Hidden Talents of the Year to Innovator, Inspiration and Leaders of the Year. Each of the awards celebrated a woman that stood out in their field and shed light on their achievements.
Innovator of the Year
For example, the notable Innovator of the Year award went to Lorraine Sammut of Videoslots Casino this year. In Sammut’s own words, “there is never a dull moment working for Videoslots” and she maintains that getting recognition for her own hard work is a dream come true. What’s more, Lorraine’s colleagues and superiors alike praise Sammut for her positive disposition, never-ending ideas that help push the business forward and ever-present passion that is inspiration to the entire team.
Celebrating Diversity
In total over 15 names were all the buzz this year, including Mariachiara Lagravinese from Mr Green and Jeriel Bacani from Microgaming as Hidden Talents of the Year for Operator and Supplier category, respectively; Kam Sanghera from Playtech as the Star of the Future and Dr Laila Mintas of Sportradar as the Inspiration of the Year – just to name a few.
What’s more, whole teams of successful women in gambling were celebrated – from Microgaming being named Company of the Year to Les Ambassadeurs Club, praised for being the Best Place to Work.
Ultimately, it is vital to note that, while diversity in iGaming is definitely worth celebrating, it is also something that should be constantly talked about, focused and worked on and improved. Yes, online gambling has significantly improved the numbers regarding the gambling demographics (it’s almost a 50-50 divide between male and female gamblers today!), and female execs are finally starting to receive the recognition they rightfully deserve, but the hard work is never truly over.
Still, thanks the select few aforementioned and numerous other capable, accomplished and professional women in gambling that we haven’t mentioned today, but who are undoubtedly changing the shape of the industry today, and judging by the growing numbers in their ranks, we seem to be headed in a rather bright future in the world of online gambling. In the meantime, let us applaud them for their extremely hard work and cheer them on in their future endeavours – it’s the least we can do.