Beginning her career at Panamanian law firm Sucre Arias & Reyes in 2000, she was poached by the country’s Gaming Control Board two years later, before joining GLI in 2004. Sierra-Hughes played a key role in the establishment of GLI’s Latin America strategy and is considered one of the most influential people in the region.
“When I started working at GLI 15 years ago, suppliers and operators were not very involved in the certification process,” she explains. However, today she says GLI is involved in every regulatory change taking place in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Though many of the foreign gaming companies eyeing Latin America as a growth market may be focused on big countries such as Brazil, Sierra-Hughes says she takes a broader approach to the fledgling region: “At GLI we never look at a market because it is big, medium or small. Every country or every jurisdiction in Latin America and the Caribbean is important, because the models that are created in each country help dictate best practices and take on board what did and didn’t work in other jurisdictions.”
A regular speaker in conference circles and a contributor to industry publications, Sierra-Hughes sees networking and communicating the industry’s benefits as a vital part of her role. “I think being a communicator means disseminating information about what our industry is, how well regulated it is and also how discriminated against we are as an industry. I take every opportunity to do that.”
Last year, they launched the iGaming Business “Most Influential Women” list in a bid to raise the profile of women in the industry. Now in its second year, the survey aims to showcase the achievements of women in igaming, as well as inspire those looking to move up the career ladder.
The magazine compiles a list of female executives and industry managers, whose role is key in the process of transforming their respective business organizations.
It’s no secret that women are under-represented at the highest levels of the igaming industry. Now in its second year, the iGaming Business Most Influential Women list aims to redress the balance. There’s a wealth of evidence to support the idea that companies that are gender diverse perform better than those that aren’t.
Figures from the inaugural All-Index, produced by the All-in Diversity Project late last year, show that overall the betting and gaming industry is close to having an evenly split workforce in terms of gender diversity. Analysing data from 25 betting and gaming organisations, it found that 47% of employees in the industry were female.
However, when looking at the more granular detail, it quickly becomes clear that there’s an issue. While numbers were close to parity at entry level (53% men versus 47% women) and team leader or supervisor level (51% to 49%), after this things start to diverge. At manager level the gender split widens out to 60% male versus 40% female, and worsens through head of department (70% to 30%), director or C-level (78% to 22%) and CEO or MD (83% to 17%) levels.
The list with the top ten is the following in alphabetical order:
-Melissa Blau (directora iGaming Capital)
-Britt Boeskov (CEO Kindred)
-Shannon DeHaven (subdirectora de Operaciones Digitales de Michigan Lottery)
-Therese Hillman (CEO NetEnt)
-Lee-Ann Johnstone (fundadora Affiliate Insider)
-Mandy Ross (CIO Tabcorp)
-Anna Sainsbury (fundadora de GeoComply), -Jamie Shea (jefe de Apuestas Deportivas Digitales de Draftkings)
-Karen Sierra-Hughes (directora de Relaciones y Desarrollo de Negocio en Latinoamérica y Caribe de GLI)
-Micky Swindale (CEO KPMG Islands Group)
Source: GMB
