During the 10th European Lotteries Congress in Antwerp from 26-29 May 2019, EL’s First Vice-President Ms. Stéphane Pallez, CEO of Française des Jeux, announced the Women’s Lottery Leadership Mentoring Pilot Programme in Europe. 

WiLL (Womens’ Initiative in Lottery Leadership) was set up in 2017 by CEO of the Tennessee Lottery and President of the World Lottery Association (WLA) Ms. Rebecca Hargrove, with the support of the sector publication PGRI (Public Gaming Research Institute). Since then, the European Lotteries Executive Committee has endorsed the initiative to expand at European level. The mission is to drive high-performance business growth through supporting the advancement of women into top positions of lottery management, leadership and responsibility.

The Europe Mentoring Programme is a six-month pilot project with four to six duos, starting from Autumn 2019. A duo will be composed of a ‘‘mentor’’ (experienced executive) and a ‘‘mentee’’ (junior to mid-level) to provide transfer of knowledge and experience and to give career guidance and development. The duos will be carefully selected by the EL Secretariat.

Why participate?

As a mentee (junior to mid-level), you will receive advice and insight from your mentor. You will have the opportunity to share new ideas and projects, develop your communication skills, access new networks and learn from a senior person about a lottery in another country.

As a mentor (experienced executive), you will refine your coaching and leadership skills, be exposed to new ideas and perspectives from a more junior colleague at a lottery in a different country, widen your network and share insights.

The selected duos will meet for one hour per month via video conference or phone, complete a full day company visit in the mentor’s lottery, travelling on an EL scholarship. This is the perfect opportunity to increase knowledge and understanding of a specific subject - market unit, product, sector, role and customer in the lottery world.

The mentee and mentor will both be committed to drive the relationship, identify goals, seek feedback, allocate appropriate time and energy, have reasonable expectations, and respect confidentiality.

How to apply?

If you are interested in taking part in this programme, please send an email to EL Deputy Secretary General at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 1 July 2019.

Please indicate your professional experience and position within your lottery, your expectations, a specific area or country of interest to be assigned to a mentor or mentee, and your language skills.