14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2024 Change Brings Opportunities for the Texas Lottery Ryan Mindell Executive Director, Texas Lottery Commission Paul Jason: Nobody really goes to college with plans to pursue a career in the lottery. How did you go from being a New York City lawyer to being the executive director of the Texas Lottery? Ryan Mindell: I graduated from Duke University in 2007. New York has that “If you can make it there … ” aura, so I thought that it was a good place to start my career. The actual work of being a lawyer is not as exciting as it might appear on TV. But it was a fabulous learning experience, preparing me for opportunities in ways that may not have happened if I had stayed in North Carolina. And it’s where I met my wife, so we have a very special fondness for New York. My wife and I had been in New York for a few years and were starting our family and decided it was time for something different. We considered the places where she and I had family and friends. There were some personal connections to Austin, so I applied to the office of the Texas Attorney General and was hired. It happened that the lawyer who dealt with the Lottery retired shortly after I arrived and right before legal issues came up that threw me into the deep water right away. I worked with Gary Grief and others at the Texas Lottery directly on these issues. Two years later, in 2016, a legal position at the Texas Lottery opened up. I applied and was hired and that’s how I ended up at the Texas Lottery. I see that you were then promoted to be Director of Lottery Operations just 18 months later. Legal Counsel to Op’s seems like an interesting leap. R. Mindell: My attitude is that the best way to qualify for the job you want is to excel at whatever job you are currently doing. I did not join the Texas Lottery with a plan to move to operations or to be appointed executive director. I must admit, though, that it did not take long to be absorbed in all aspects of the lottery business! I asked to be included in planning and problem-solving meetings in other areas of the business so I could learn and grow. One thing led to another as I embraced the opportunity to make a difference beyond legal issues. How does private sector work differ from working for an agency of state government? R. Mindell: In successful private sector companies, the focus is on results more than the execution of tasks. It might seem like the client is the boss who is yelling at you. But the real client is the customer who pays for the product or service your company produces. In my case, if a client like JP Morgan is not PGRI INTERVIEWS PGRI Introduction: Ryan Mindell joined the Texas Lottery in April 2016 as Deputy General Counsel and moved over to Director of Lottery Operations in February 2018 before being appointed Deputy Executive Director in September 2022. Ryan had been on the front lines for many years prior to his appointment as Executive Director in April 2024. While our discussion ranges across a variety of topics, it focuses on how lotteries operating within constraints (like prohibition to sell online) can still take an ambitious approach towards technological and digital innovation. Congratulations, Ryan, on your appointment to lead the Texas Lottery! “The runway for experiential prizes and ability to tap into a new universe of players on social media appears to be without limits.”
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