Global Gaming Women this week announced that Siobhan Lane will serve as President of the non-profit organization starting January 1.
But Lane, who previously served as First Vice President for GGW, has begun working on the next two years of her tenure.
“We’ve already had a strategy session last month outlining our strategic goals,” she tells CDC Gaming. “So, we’re really making sure that we have what we need to activate those goals going into the beginning of next year. We’re working on our annual budget, making sure we’re engaging our sponsors appropriately and they understand what our goals are that lie ahead, and just making sure that we have a sustainable organization to carry through on those goals.”
Lane, Light & Wonder CEO, Gaming, will be supported by GGW’s new First Vice President Brandi Ellis and Second Vice President Adriana Kasunic. Her term is two years.
She notes that in 2026 GGW will celebrate its 10th anniversary.
“A small group of women 10 years ago, our founders really, had this vision to create an education fund to help advance the development and the careers of women in the gaming industry,” Lane says. “It’s been 10 years since they brought that vision to life, which is really exciting.
“So, I think first and foremost, when setting goals for a new year, oftentimes we think about what incrementally can we do. And certainly that’s part of the goals of GGW going into next year. But I think it’s equally important that we take a minute to celebrate how far we’ve come, both as a global gaming women organization, and how it has scaled and just extended its reach to so many women across the industry.”
Among Lane’s plans are to increase GGW’s presence in Africa, Australia, Europe and anywhere the gaming industry exists. She admits the organization has been North American-centric during its first 10 years, and a few years ago the organization started to reach out to women in other locales.
In her job with Light & Wonder, she travels to Asia, Australia, and Europe, and meets many women “who are really hungry for this type of support and educational programing and networking opportunities,” Lane says. “It just doesn’t exist in some global gaming markets. So, bringing GGW across the globe to women who are hungry and engaged and willing to support our mission is critically important to our goals moving forward.”
Lane succeeds Lauren Bates, who has served as President of GGW for the past two years.
“Lauren has done a fantastic job really elevating and scaling GGW as an organization,” Lane says. “I’m grateful to her and all the work that she did. She’s put in many, many, many, many hours to make sure that she’s handing over a very healthy and sustainable organization.”
While GGW will continue to highlight women in their goals for advancement and promotions, Lane says outreach will be extended to women who are satisfied in their current roles.
“Certainly, upward mobility is one of those goals, but it’s not everyone’s goal,” Lane says. “So, our intention is to really diversify our offerings to make sure that we’re supporting entry level individual contributors all the way up to the executive C-suite of the female pipeline of talent, and also to connect with our allies across the industry as well and make sure that they know this is an inclusive organization. We couldn’t do this without ally support, and we welcome a diverse set of voices in the conversation to make sure that we’re really supporting everyone that’s part of this journey and this mission.”
