The IGT Sustainability Awards program is an employee recognition initiative that celebrates individuals who demonstrate leadership and embody IGT’s global sustainability pillars.
David DeAngelis
Senior Director, Technology Training and Support Services
David oversees IGT’s lottery and gaming customer training and support teams. Over the past several years, David and his team converted in-person trainings into e-learning platforms and piloted virtual retailer trainings with the United States lottery operations teams in Indiana and New Jersey. He continues to advance IGT’s remote training capabilities that are effectively decreasing the Company’s environmental impact.
Ani Patenaude
Contracts Administrator
Ani serves as the membership committee lead for the Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN) with IGT: Las Vegas diversity, equity and inclusion group. She also serves as the events chair for the Las Vegas Leadership Council and is a dedicated volunteer at the Paladin Rescue Alliance, an organization dedicated to combating human trafficking in Southeast Asia.
Mariangela Acito & Emanuela Emili
Italy Data Privacy Team
Mariangela Acito and Emanuela Emili are members of the Italy Data Privacy team and created the #MoveSmartMoveGreen program. With the Rome office conveniently located near public transportation, IGT now provides a stipend for employees that decide to travel by bus or train. For employees that take a bicycle to work, they implemented parking spaces, as well as bicycle racks and employee changing rooms with showers.
Ailsa McKnight
Senior Director, iLottery Marketing
In lieu of giveaway items at trade shows, Ailsa spearheaded an effort to donate trees, helping to support communities all over the world. Ailsa and her team connected with Treedom, an organization that has planted more than three million trees in Africa, Italy and South America. All trees are planted directly by local farmers and bring environmental, social and financial benefits to their communities. Ailsa and her team purchased 1,900 trees for the “IGT Forest” and gifted them to guests at international expos and gaming events.
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Dora Zarlenga
Program Management and Process Monitoring Senior Specialist
Dora serves as chair of IGT’s diversity, equity and inclusion group, SuperAbilities at IGT: Italy. She has organized dozens of SuperAbilities events, creating a platform for employees to share their experiences and increase understanding of the various challenges and disabilities that IGT employees encounter. Dora is also a community advocate and has volunteered countless hours at charitable organizations, including Dementia Friendly Italia, the Red Cross and Save the Children.
Michael Carpenter
Senior Director, Call Center
In his role as leader of the National Response Center (NRC), Michael oversees all frontline support for IGT’s lottery and gaming customers in the United States. Three years ago, Michael and his team implemented a Genesys cloud infrastructure, effectively implementing a more sustainable alternative. With this new technology, IGT has seen an increase in agent productivity and a decrease in service handling time. In addition, Michael and his team have reduced the need for physical call center locations and minimized IGT’s environmental footprint.
Katja Werno
Project Coordinator IV
In addition to her full-time role as a project coordinator, Katja has served as Barcelona’s culture ambassador and uses her energy and passion to guide meditations, host virtual coffee breaks and discuss health and wellness topics including mindfulness, sleep and stress. At IGT’s Barcelona office, she created a community garden, increased the number of indoor plants and established a recreational table for employees during their lunch break. Katja also serves as a diversity, equity and inclusion ambassador, playing an instrumental role in supporting a positive and inclusive workplace.
Mark Poltarowicz
Senior Product Manager, Video Lottery Terminals
Over the past 20 years, Mark has guided IGT through the evolution of responsible gaming, helping the Company maintain its industry leadership in global sustainability. As the senior product manager, he works with the video lottery systems and makes sure that IGT’s system products comply with the science-based responsible gaming best practices. Mark has presented at conferences and trade shows across the globe, collaborated with industry leaders and stakeholders, and led presentations on the advancements in responsible gaming.
Alice Santiago
Administrative Assistant II
Six years ago, upon joining the IGT sales team, Alice learned about the Company’s employee giving programs and jumped at the chance to give back. She became an IGT community ambassador, helping to identify volunteer opportunities, coordinate events and encourage her fellow employees to get involved. Over the years, Alice has taken the lead on a variety of community service projects. From organizing a dinner for veterans, to coordinating a virtual Halloween party for families at the Muscular Dystrophy Association to recruiting 20 IGT employees to volunteer at the Funny Farm Rescue and Sanctuary, she is always thinking of creative ways to give back.
Marco Masciovecchio and Raffaella Storico
Employee Health and Safety Team
Marco and Raffaella spearheaded a campaign to purchase and install life-saving medical devices at IGT’s operating headquarters in Rome. With the Company’s approval, Marco and Raffaella secured AEDs for the office in Rome and the warehouse in Pomezia, and coordinated in-person training for employees. More than 60 IGT employees have received the training, with more employees scheduled to participate. Security and additional staff have been trained to ensure that, at any given time of the day, there is always an employee on-site that knows how to use an AED.
Natalie Rudder (posthumously)
Field Services Supervisor
Natalie was an avid supporter of IGT’s sustainability initiatives. She led the charge in securing certification of the ISO 14001-Environmental Management System. Her impact included upgrading lightbulbs at the warehouse to reduce electricity consumption, implementing an electronic waste management process, creating a recycling program for old lottery betslips and building an environmentally conscious work environment. Natalie placed a special emphasis on employee health and safety. Whether it was buying new desks, installing fans in the warehouse or updating equipment, she was committed to providing a safe and comfortable work environment.
The After School Advantage Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp Team
The Caribbean
With IGT’s After School Advantage (ASA) technology labs closed during the pandemic, IGT employees throughout the Caribbean looked for alternative ways to provide virtual learning opportunities for students. In 2021, IGT launched a virtual Coding and Robotics Rock! Camp. Students across eight English-speaking Caribbean islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten, and Trinidad and Tobago. The two-week camp focuses on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts and the curriculum was developed by the University of West Indies and Mona GeoInformatics Institute. Students were able to participate at home or in a socially distanced format at their local ASA lab. In 2022, for the second year of the camp, two different curriculums were offered to students, including an introductory course and a more advanced course for students that participated in 2021. Dozens of students participated in the camp, focusing on technology that can help to reduce environmental impact while fueling sustainable growth in the Caribbean.