Interview with WLA President on new strategic plan

What process was used to develop the Strategic Plan?

To develop the plan, we started with a wide lens, to delve down to what is the WLA’s essence. A fact-based review of two principal areas was undertaken namely, Industry/Player Insight and WLA context/membership data.

From the insights gained we were able to identify six areas to focus on, in order to update our Purpose, Vision and Mission statements and elaborate the plan itself.

These six areas are:

1. To improve, grow and mature our existing certification programs before branching out.
2. To focus on promoting a broader use of the learning and sharing platforms, thus adding to member value.
3. To formalize a plan and approach with regards to subject matter expertise.
4. To develop a legal center of excellence for illegal gaming issues.
5. To broaden our global reach, with emphasis on driving engagements to widen membership participation.
6. To provide resources/tools of best practices, case studies, and other information supporting and promoting our members’ Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. 

Can you explain how these findings translated into the updated Purpose, Vision and Mission statements?

Our Purpose, the why we exist, is to support and promote the efforts of our global member organizations in providing socially responsible offerings to generate funds for positive societal impact.

In other words, to support our government sanctioned lottery members in their development of compelling products with a focus on social responsibility covering responsible gaming, environmental, security and privacy issues; revenue growth not being an end in itself.

The Vision of what we want to become, is for the WLA to be recognized by key stakeholder groups as the global lottery and sports betting authority that supports its members in contributing to society. To achieve this, we must establish a strong value proposition that allows us to be the go-to global expert on these matters.

How we intend to achieve this Vision is set out in our Mission statement, which is, as a global association, to progress the lottery ecosystem and provide value to our diverse member base by offering subject matter expertise, certification/standards and upholding the highest standard of Responsible Gaming in the sector.

We recognize that our members operate in differing local contexts and the

“WLA seeks to provide value to all its members, offering perspectives and guidance on relevant industry trends, evolving and future proofing certifications and standards, continuing to combat illegal operators, promoting good corporate citizenship and if asked, advocate on a member’s behalf.”

What are some of the key imperatives and initiatives within the strategy?

There are four key focus areas in the strategy. Firstly, we want to further develop a clear value proposition that is distinct from that of the Regional Associations, while being complementary to each other, then we aim to promote awareness of our value proposition and track its effectiveness so that we keep evolving in a positive manner.

Secondly, we strive to uphold industry integrity by continuing to expand and fine-tune our security and responsible gaming standards and certifications with increased participation. Other possible initiatives include establishing a center of knowledge and information on combatting illegal gaming as well promoting and raising awareness of sports integrity among the WLA members offering sports betting.

Thirdly, we will provide expertise on relevant global topics. This requires establishing a process to identify key focus areas and how to proceed with the development and presentation of intelligence and knowledge of our membership base as well as building subject-matter networks across all regions for relevant topics; in this regard, a pilot project for responsible gaming will be launched shortly. We are also looking at expanding the WLA Academy to include virtual short-form events, and refining communication of the WLA Global Lottery Data Compendium.

Finally, we would like to reinforce good corporate citizenship. We can achieve this by promoting a responsible gaming and security culture across the eco-system including all related organizations and the industry at large.

We will also develop guidelines and best practices for Corporate Social Responsibility; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG); Electronic Data Interchange, and sports betting operations. Last but not the least, under the good corporate citizenship pillar we will underscore the positive impact that the WLA membership has made to the global societies.

The rollout will take four years to fully realize. What can we expect to see in 2024?

This year we are starting to unveil several initiatives within the plan, and we expect to showcase some of these during the October World Lottery Summit in Paris. It is important for our members to see and understand this exciting development and WLA’s evolution. We will also promote the new strategic plan among lottery executives throughout the year.

You have lived an extraordinary presidency, and successfully led WLA through unprecedented times. What have been some of the greatest challenges and highlights?

These past few years have certainly been noteworthy for many reasons. While we experienced tremendous upheaval and tragic loss from a worldwide pandemic, we also proved resilient and undeterred as we worked to keep our industry – and each other – strong. Together, we pursued new opportunities in the virtual space to effectively communicate and support each other. That technology continues to serve us well and has gradually brought us into a new dimension of cohesiveness.

“I’ve been impressed with the unwavering commitment of our members to stay abreast of the ever-evolving digital space and learn from each other about how we can use it to grow our footprint, meet player demand and increase the benefits we bring to good causes.”

In your final year, what do you hope to accomplish and what do you see as your legacy?

Developing the strategic plan has been quite an accomplishment. The process we undertook involved a thorough review of WLA – where we have been, where we are going, what we need, and how we can best serve our industry. I want to thank the Executive Committee for the strong support and deep engagement they have shown to bring this initiative to fruition. I’m optimistic about the impact that the Strategic Plan will have on our future and the benefits it will spur. The timeline is such that, as mentioned, we are unveiling the plan in 2024, with an emphasis at WLS in October.

“As for a legacy, I look to the Women’s Initiative in Lottery Leadership (WILL) with a smile. After several years of steady progress, this multi-faceted program is becoming a mainstay on our industry’s radar and is poised to be a catalyst for change.”

Our mission, “to drive high-performance business growth through supporting the advancement of women into top positions of lottery management, leadership and responsibility,” has been embraced by a growing number of participants and is making its way around the globe. Our goal of nurturing the development of so many talented women in our industry is seeing much progress, and I look forward to its ongoing evolution.

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