When Cassie Stratford left a private law firm 10 years ago to work for Boyd Gaming, she wasn’t sure what to expect. Hired to be a contract lawyer, Stratford quickly rose through Boyd’s ranks to become the vice president of legal affairs and assistant general counsel for the Las Vegas-based gaming company.
“I came in as a contract lawyer, Stratford says. “My role today is very different. The scope of areas I work on has expanded exponentially, and that’s because the company has been supportive of that, and because of organizations like GGW (Global Gaming Women).”
Stratford recently was elected president of GGW, a nonprofit group that advocates for women in the gaming industry. Founded by the American Gaming Association in 2016, GGW has created avenues for women to connect with their colleagues through a network that provides support and educational opportunities.
One of Stratford’s goals is to make sure gaming industry executives are aware of the large pool of female candidates available for executive positions. According to the AGA, women comprise 51% of gaming employees. The AGA’s 2020 American Attitudes survey revealed that 48% of gamblers in the prior year were women, as were 47% of casino visitors.
When Stratford advocates for women as executives, she highlights their numbers in the industry and especially on gaming floors.
“Your customers are diverse. so why wouldn’t you want the diversity of thought at the very top level to understand how your customers are thinking,” Stratford says.
A North Dakota native, Stratford had to overcome a series of obstacles when she was young. According to the Jamestown Sun, Stratford broke her leg at six years old and eventually learned she had bone cancer. She would spend close to a year at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota receiving treatment but lost the leg in the process.
Undeterred, she became captain of her high school swim team, earned an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and then went to law school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I actually had cancer and chemo again as an adult (while working at Boyd),” Stratford says, noting she’s reluctant to talk about her bouts with cancer lest anyone feel bad for her. “I have learned a lot about resilience, a good attitude, and the kindness of people from those experiences that I think helps me keep a good perspective in my career as well.”
While at UNLV, Stratford knew gambling was big in the region, but her perceptions were of the gaming industry were “of slot machines and table games and a lot of old men in smoky rooms with cigars,” she says, laughing.
“I definitely didn’t appreciate how this industry is so dynamic,” Stratford says. “It has changed so much. It’s really more of an overall customer entertainment experience than what you would think of a traditional, old movie gambling experience.”
Because of the industry’s various subsets – from food and beverage to entertainment to hospitality to online gaming – Stratford thinks it’s a good industry for career-oriented women.
“There’s really is something for everyone,” she says. “There’s so much behind-the-scenes work that goes into it. There are sophisticated business decisions in the background being made by these large publicly traded companies run by really, really smart sophisticated people that are still some of the most down-to-earth interesting people I’ve met in my life.”
One of Stratford’s missions as GGW president is to help women prepare for leadership positions. There are times a female candidate might think she doesn’t “check all the boxes” for a job and be reticent to apply.
But rare is the candidate who is perfect, and Stratford wants her peers to take chances.
“I want them to have the courage to put their hand up and say, ‘I want to work on that or learn more about that.’ How can I get involved, how can I help? For me it’s been taking advantage of opportunities through organizations like GGW or other industry organizations, having mentors and being at a company (Boyd) that’s been supportive of my desire to continue to grow.”
Boyd Gaming Vice President, Communications, David Strow, says Stratford is a consummate professional with a peerless work ethic who will make significant contributions to GGW.
“She’s been a fantastic executive for us,” Strow says. “So having the opportunity for Cassie to step into this new role as the president of GGW, and for the whole industry to see what an incredible executive and talent she is, I think that’s great for Cassie and it’s great for Boyd.”
Rege Behe is lead contributor to CDC Gaming. He can be reached at rbehe@cdcgaming.com. Please follow @RegeBehe_exPTR on Twitter.
