Launched in 2010, the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards are strongly established as some of the global gaming industry’s most prestigious and widely respected diversity events. There are 21 categories (lots of them divided between operators and providers). For this edition, HR Champion Award was incorporated, while Best in House Initiative Internal Communication was taken away.
According to Lana Thompson, Director of organizer Clever Duck Media: “Diversity is not just a priority, but should be part of the culture in our industry. We are very proud promoting gender gap in technology and female leader roles for 12 years, and believe we are ready to recognize some of the outstanding diversity efforts we witnessed by a number of people and organizations in our industry.”
The group has recently announced finalists to all of the categories, with the exception of Industry Pride of the Year, an award that will be specifically selected by the judges. Among the operators, Betsson Group leads with 17 nominations for the company and for some of its employees. About suppliers, SOFTSWISS has 8 finalists, including B2B Excellence Award, Company of the Year, and Excellence in Customer Service, as well as renowned executives Olga Ivanchik and Tatyana Kaminskaya (Employee of the Year), Valentina Bagniya (Industry Achiever), Darya Avtukhovich (Young Leader of the Year), and Kaminskaya again for Inspiration of the Year. For its part, Soft2Bet competes in the Company of the Year category, and Digitain, in the Industry Achiever (executive Hamest Safaryan) and Star of the Future (Meri Nersisyan).
Other companies with a several number of nominations are Playtech, Bally’s, Light & Wonder, and Pragmatic Play. While the All-in Diversity Project, a relevant organization co-founded by Christina Thakor-Rankin and Kelly Kehn, is a great candidate for the award in the Community Engagement category for its excellent work Break the Bias on International Women’s Day, in collaboration with Square in the Air.
The in-person event will take place on September 15th at Savoy Hotel (London, UK). Here’s the full list of finalists of the 2022 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards:
1) B2B Excellence Award: April Augustine (Gaming Labs) // Betby // BGaming // Carly Brown (Light & Wonder) // Cathryn Lai (OpenBet) // Christine Lewis (Yolo Group) // Eyecon // Fabienne Bourgaize (Eyecon) // Relax Gaming // SOFTSWISS BAM Team // UltraPlay
2) Best Diverse Place to Work: Betsson Group // Evoplay // Eyecon // Genesis Global // Just For The Win // Quickspin AB // Rootz Ltd // Yolo Group
3) Best Use of Technology: Playtech // Rootz Ltd // UltraPlay
4) Community Engagement: All-in Diversity Project in collaboration with Square in the Air // Betby // Betsoft Gaming Marketing Team // BGaming
5) Company of the Year (Operators): Betsson Group // Genesis Global // Yolo Group
6) Company of the Year (Suppliers): Eyecon // Just For The Win // Playtech // Raketech Group // Relax Gaming // Soft2Bet // SOFTSWISS
7) Diversity & Inclusion: Betsson Group // Light & Wonder // Playtech
8) Diverse and Inclusive Team of the Year: Betby // Eyecon // Playtech
9) Employee Network of the Year: 888 Holdings // Caesars Entertainment // Eyecon // Flutter Entertainment // Mansion
10) Employee of the Year (Operator): Alina Nesu (Bally’s) // Aurelia Matras (Les A) // Bridie Asprey (LiveScore Group) // Cathy-Mariann Põldar (Yolo Group) // Ciara Nic Liam (Entain) // Shakyra Jonsson (Betsson)
11) Employee of the Year (Supplier): Alison Beattie (Eyecon) // Dominique Spanier (Eyecon) // Fabienne Bourgaize (Eyecon) // Jo Bentley (Playtech) // Nicole Guilmoto (Eyecon) // Olga Ivanchik (SOFTSWISS) // Tatyana Kaminskaya (SOFTSWISS)
12) Employee Wellbeing Award: Bally’s Interactive // Betsson Group // Eyecon // Genesis Global // Gwen Wilkie (Light & Wonder) // Ola Jacukowicz (William Hill) // Playtech // Relax Gaming
13) Excellence in Customer Service (Operator): Amie Foster (LiveScore Group) // Bally’s Interactive // Betsson Group // Genesis Global // Isle of Man Customer Support – Bally’s // Maria Kathyrine T. Verdeflor (Bally’s) // Sandra Bergenulf (ComeOn Group)
14) Excellence in Customer Service (Supplier): Eyecon // Fabienne Bourgaize (Eyecon) // Jodie Biglin (Playtech) // Kristina Stark (Casino Guru) // Mary Taing (Light & Wonder) // Relax Gaming // SOFTSWISS Managed Services Team // Team in Kyiv (Playtech)
15) HR Champion Award (new category): Dr. Alexandra Krone (Gamomat) // Alison Beattie (Eyecon) // Beth Smith (IGT) // Christine Hill (Rootz) // Gemma Burke – Anzo (LiveScore Group) // Leila Goelz (Games Global) // Lorna Evans (Inspired Entertainment) // Louise Connor (Microgaming) // Martin Schillig (Raketech) // Vy Luu (Bally’s)
16) Industry Achiever (Operator): Briseida Ayala McCarthy (Genesis Global) // Keidi Urbanik (Yolo Group) // Lori Peck (Bally’s) // Melanie Hainzer (Rootz) // Sonya Reilly (Betsson) // Therése Forssell Lagerstam (Star Stable Entertainment) // Tracy Damestani (Les A)
17) Industry Achiever (Supplier): Claire McDaid (Pragmatic Play) // Hamest Safaryan (Digitain) // Jennifer Ekholtz (Light & Wonder) // Jo Bentley (Playtech) // Jody Michelle Rempel (ArdentSky, LLC) // Justyna Majcher (Yggdrasil) // Marija Hammon (Relax Gaming) // Melissa Aarskaug – BulletProof (Gaming Labs) // Monica Florio (IGT) // Sarah Dailey (Design Works Gaming) // Valentina Bagniya (SOFTSWISS)
18) Innovation in Employee Engagement: Betsson Group // Eyecon // Melanie Dunmar (Design Works Gaming)
19) Innovator: Christine Lewis (Yolo Group) // Jo Bentley (Playtech) // Katarina Riegersburg (Casino Guru) // Sarah Micallef (Betsson)
20) Inspiration of the Year (Operator): Leticia Millan – Rhino Group (Betsson) // Lisa Martin (William Hill) // Martina Mizzi (Betsson) // Sophie Platten (Bally’s) // Susanne Johnson (Bally’s)
21) Inspiration of the Year (Supplier): Ana D’Arrigo (AvatarUX) // Chris Masino (IGT) // Dominique Spanier (Eyecon) // Hillory McDaniel (Design Works Gaming) // Kimberley Broad (Games Global) // Maria Solianyk (Quickspin) // Sandra Dmitrijeva (Playtech) // Tatyana Kaminskaya (SOFTSWISS) // Virginie Luce (Pragmatic Play) // Zoe Bird (Yggdrasil)
22) Leader of the Year (Operators): Alexe Reichert (William Hill) // Annie Garnham (Buzz Bingo) // Briseida Ayala McCarthy (Genesis Global) // Caroline Broman (Betsson) // Helena Berg (ComeOn Group) // Jade Appleby (Bally’s) // Kirsten Tuohy (LiveScore Group) // Lena Nordin (Betsson) // Maarja Pärt (Yolo Group) // Raissa Tabone (Bally’s) // Rosie Wood (Bally’s)
23) Leader of the Year (Suppliers): Alice Lesser (Quickspin) // Anna Gaponov (Playtech) // Cathryn Lai (OpenBet) // Elena Rousseva (Playtech) // Inna Kaminska (Playtech) // Julie Allison (Games Global) // Lena Yasir (Pragmatic Play) // Marina Ostrovtsova (BGaming) // Miruna Bicoli (Greentube) // Sabine Mueller (Gamomat) // Victoria Dolan (IGT)
24) Positive Role Model of the Year (Operator): Belen Ibanez (Bally’s) // Dee Maher (Genesis Global) // Jade Vella Panzavecchia (ComeOn Group) // Josie Sultan (Bally’s) // Julie Mars – Roxor (LiveScore Group) // Konstantina Drakatou (Betsson) // Malin Dahlman (ComeOn Group) // Renata Kavaliauskaite (Genesis Global) // Shakyra Jonsson (Betsson)
25) Positive Role Model of the Year (Supplier): Alla Skripnitšenko (Playtech) // Anna Flisberg (Relax Gaming) // Ash Hagen (Quickspin) // Danielle Grayston (Playtech) // Fabienne Bourgaize (Eyecon) // Oana-Adina Rusu (Greentube)
26) Star of the Future (Operators): Carla Castro (Genesis Global) // Claudia Pantiruc (Bally’s) // Graciella Anthony (Entain) // Graziella Vella (ComeOn Group) // Iara Czizik (Betsson) // Karina Podolska (Genesis Global) // Linda Strålberg (Bally’s) // Margaret Toohey (LiveScore Group) // Piret Ploom (Yolo Group) // Sabrina Demanuele (ComeOn Group)
27) Star of the Future (Suppliers): Anastasiia Dehtiarova (Playtech) // Carla Souter (Betting Jobs) // Ellie Lynch (Square in the Air) // Kimberly Fraser Houston (IGT) // Kyra Jones (Design Works Gaming) // Lauren Caruana (Light & Wonder) // Meri Nersisyan (Digitain) // Nicole Guilmoto (Eyecon)
28) Young Leader of the Year (Operator): Elin Gartland (ComeOn Group) // Isabel Penalver (Bally’s) // Josephine Hellström (Casumo) // Julie degn Nielsen (Mr Green) // Kelly Micallef (ComeOn Group) // Laura Dennis (Bally’s) // Tessa Whistler (Betsson)
29) Young Leader of the Year (Supplier): Aglaja Geta (Betby) // Daniela Kianicová (Casino Guru) // Darya Avtukhovich (SOFTSWISS) // Gretta Kochkonyan (Endorphina) // Kseniia Viatkina (Endorphina) // Nicole Guilmoto (Eyecon) // Tetiana Semeniuk (Quickspin) // Zoe Ebling (Design Works 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.