Women In Gaming: Siska Concannon
As a leader in the gaming industry, Siska Concannon places emphasis on her role as a mentor.
"When I know someone is right or deserving, I advocate for them--full stop," she told Gambling.com. "I also take mentorship seriously, ensuring that I’m setting people up for long-term success, whether they stay with my company or take their talents elsewhere."
Again this year, Concannon is one of 20 judges for the annual American Gambling Awards, the first awards dedicated exclusively to the online gambling market in the United States. Established by the Gambling.com Group in 2019, the annual event celebrates excellence and innovation in the gaming industry.
With her professional experience, Concannon, COO, PIMS at Partis, brings valuable insight to the judging process. Partis is a specialist consulting firm in the gambling industry.
This year, Gambling.com asked Concannon about her path to success and the future for women in the gaming industry. Below are the questions and responses.
Q&A With Siska Concannon
Question: Tell us about your journey into the gaming industry. What inspired you to pursue this path, and how has your career evolved?
Answer: I've always been fascinated by human behavior--what drives our decisions, and why we do what we do. That curiosity naturally led me to a career in Marketing, where I was fortunate to rise through the ranks across several industries. While leading emerging digital marketing functions, I became increasingly interested in the deeper “why” and “how” behind consumer actions. That’s when I made a deliberate pivot. Stepping back from a senior role to re-enter the workforce in the tech sector, with the goal of immersing myself in the mechanics of digital product and data-led decision-making.
Growing up in Australia, where gambling is deeply embedded in the culture, the leap into online sportsbooks and casinos was a natural evolution. It allowed me to combine my passion for human behavior, technology and marketing and fully immerse myself in understanding not only what drives a high-performing online operation, but why gambling and the psychology of risk and reward remains one of the oldest and most persistent human behaviors.
Q: Were there any pivotal moments or challenges that shaped your leadership path? How did they influence the way you lead today?
A: I was raised to be the first one in and the last one out. I grew up in a working-class environment and a traditional household--my dad ran his own business, and my mum was a teacher before becoming a homemaker. I was a born competitor, and both of my parents nurtured a strong sense of ambition in me. From an early age, I understood that I would have to work harder and smarter to prove myself. For women, especially in male-dominated industries, this isn’t unique--we don’t get the privilege of being judged on potential; we have to demonstrate value.
I also came to recognize that I’m an empath, even before the term became common. I’ve always had a strong focus on humanitarian issues and an immediate, instinctive response to injustice. That part of me deeply informs how I lead. I’ve experienced more poor leadership and toxic environments than I care to count, and I made the decision that the cycle would end with me.
My mother, in many ways, inspired that choice. She taught me that real change doesn’t happen from the sidelines. If I wanted to help build something better, I had to be in the room. That conviction has only deepened over time, particularly as I observed how starkly misaligned the online gambling industry is with its own customer base. Whether in Australia, the U.K. or North America, the lack of women, and especially women of color, in boardrooms and executive roles is astounding when you consider who our customers are.
To me, driving change isn't just a moral imperative--it's a business one. Representation matters. Leadership that reflects the diversity of the customer base drives better outcomes. I lead with empathy, integrity and a willingness to challenge the status quo. Because real leadership means having the courage to challenge a system that was never built for everyone and recognizing that exclusion was never a viable business strategy.
Q: What barriers have you encountered as a woman in gaming, and how did you navigate them? How have women traditionally been perceived in the gambling ecosystem? Have there been any misconceptions?
A: One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced--and many women continue to face--is that leaders tend to trust and promote people who look, speak and act like them. That’s standard human behavior, but it becomes a structural problem when leadership lacks diversity.
As a woman, I’ve often found that when I emulate the communication style or assertiveness of my male counterparts, I’m penalized for it--while they’re rewarded. It’s a double bind many women know all too well. Some women naturally navigate that tightrope more easily. This is certainly not because they’re more capable or more strategic, but because their communication style or temperament happens to align more closely with what’s already accepted in male-led environments.
And that’s exactly why representation matters. When leadership teams reflect only one kind of experience or communication style, it skews our understanding of what competence actually looks like. We start mistaking familiarity for capability, and charisma for leadership, and we miss out on great talent in the process.
Merit Paired With Integrity
Q: How do you lead in a way that fosters inclusion and empowers others, especially women? Can you share any initiatives or practices you’ve championed?
A: I build teams based on talent, and that has naturally resulted in teams that are diverse. I still find it frustrating that I have to push recruitment firms and leadership teams to recognize the importance of talent-driven diversity in candidate pools. Diversity shouldn’t be an afterthought; it should be a baseline expectation when hiring the best.
I stand up for my teams, even when it’s not the easiest or most politically convenient thing to do. When I know someone is right or deserving, I advocate for them--full stop. I also take mentorship seriously, ensuring that I’m setting people up for long-term success, whether they stay with my company or take their talents elsewhere.
My approach to hiring and promoting is rooted in merit, but merit paired with integrity. That creates an environment where collaboration, fairness and accountability thrive. It also ensures that we’re not just talking about inclusion--we live it.
Outside my own organization, I’ve supported women in gaming by participating in mentorship programs and speaking out on numerous panels and publications focused on equitable leadership. Representation and visibility matter, especially when they show women that there are many ways to lead and space for them to do it authentically.
Q: Has the explosion in popularity of women’s sports helped the cause of gender inclusivity in the gaming industry? What about betting on women’s sports? What do you see as the growth opportunity there? Will it ever reach the levels of betting that we see with men’s sports?
A: The popularity of women’s sports is no longer up for debate--the growth is real, global and commercial. Women’s basketball is booming. Women’s Australian Rules Football and global cricket are setting attendance records. Women's football (soccer), athletics and swimming all command massive fan bases. In the U.S., the NFL--often held up as the ultimate “male” sport--has a near 50/50 split in viewership and ticket sales between men and women. The audience is there. The demand is there. The engagement is real.
But betting markets haven’t caught up, and that’s not due to a lack of interest. It’s due to outdated perceptions.
Until we dismantle the cultural narrative that women are “less competitive,” “less aggressive” or only relevant when their off-field appearance or drama is headline-worthy, we’ll continue to see women’s sports and athletes underrepresented in both media coverage and betting markets. This isn’t about potential. The potential has already been proven. This is about a cultural lag between what’s happening and how we choose to value it.
Will betting on women’s sports reach the levels of men’s? Not unless operators, media and marketers stop treating it like a niche and start treating it like a growth category--because it is. The opportunity is there, but the question is whether the industry has the will to lead or just follow once it's too late to be early.
Q: Do you believe the industry is making real progress on diversity and inclusion, or are we still scratching the surface? How do you think the culture around sports betting has shifted, if at all, to support gender inclusivity?
A: From where I began my career in my early 20s to now, yes, there has been progress. But it’s often progress that comes with compromise. Despite near parity in overall employment, women remain significantly underrepresented at the highest levels of decision-making in the sports betting industry.
This imbalance impacts everything from how corporate strategy is shaped to how products are designed, marketed and experienced. It also reflects the structural leadership barriers that still exist, especially for women as they advance in their careers.
And really, why would women want to stay in an industry that becomes more inhospitable the higher they climb?
If we want sustainable growth, innovation and long-term relevance, we need environments where talented women don’t just enter the industry but thrive, advance and lead. That means equity at every level, not just in entry-level roles. Until we achieve that, we’ll continue to lose out on incredible talent, and we’ll limit the future growth potential of the entire industry.
I remain hopeful, but hope alone doesn’t build equity. Action does.
Q: What advice would you give to women aspiring to leadership roles in gaming? Armed with all the knowledge and success you have achieved, what advice, if any, would you have given to your younger self when you just started out in the industry?
A: Work for leaders and teams who have proven they promote women into the highest decision-making roles, not those who just talk about it, but those who consistently act on it. Seek out companies and investors that don’t just check the diversity box but fundamentally understand why gender and racial equity lead to better outcomes. It's not about optics--it's about belief, commitment and results.
Real change happens when you're seen, valued and invested, not just tolerated. That’s when the shift occurs.
We need the highly capable, experienced women in our industry to stay, and we need to reward and elevate the organizations that give women an equal seat at the table in equal numbers. My advice to my younger self would be this: Bet on people who bet on you, and don’t waste time proving your worth in places that never intended to recognize it.
Q: What does “breaking the glass ceiling” mean to you personally, and do you feel you’ve done it?
A: I’m proud of my career and what I’ve achieved, both for myself and the organizations I’ve represented. But that journey hasn’t come without its share of cuts from the shards of glass ceilings I’ve had to break along the way.
The idea of a single glass ceiling is misleading. In reality, every time you break through one, there’s another waiting when you dare to keep pushing forward. And if you do make it through those multiple ceilings, you’re often met with what’s called the “glass cliff.” A 2015 study from Utah State University found that women are more likely to be promoted to CEO in struggling companies, effectively being set up to take the fall if recovery fails. This is despite the fact that companies with women in the CEO or CFO role are more profitable and produce superior stock price performance delivering higher returns to shareholders--up to 226 basis points more than companies with male leadership.
The statistics speak for themselves. In the U.S., women make up nearly half the workforce, yet only 28% hold VP-level roles, and just 10% are Fortune 500 CEOs. The picture is even starker for women of color, who represent over 20% of the U.S. population and drive more than $1 trillion in consumer spending annually yet account for only 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs.
So, “breaking the glass ceiling” isn’t just a women’s issue--it’s about dismantling systems that have perpetuated inequality, even as that inequality undermines business performance. Studies consistently show that diverse leadership drives stronger outcomes: Startups founded by women deliver twice the revenue per dollar invested; ethnically diverse executive teams outperform by 36% in profitability; gender-diverse executive teams by 25%. Companies with more than 40% women on executive teams are significantly more likely to outperform those with fewer or none.
The evidence is clear: Breaking the glass ceiling, and the glass cliff, isn’t just the right thing to do, it is the smartest business strategy we have.
Leadership, Innovation, Excellence
The Gambling.com Group's 2025 American Gambling Awards features 12 distinct categories, spotlighting top-performing sports betting and iGaming operators, industry service providers, policymakers, regulators and other key figures shaping the American online gambling sector.
“The American Gambling Awards were created to recognize the people and organizations driving progress in the U.S. online gambling industry,” said Charles Gillespie, co-founder and CEO of the Gambling.com Group. “Now in our fifth year, the program has evolved into an elite celebration of leadership, innovation and excellence. We’re proud to continue shining a spotlight on the individuals and companies pushing our industry forward.”
This year’s program introduces the reimagined Advisor of the Year category, replacing the previous Dealmaker of the Year award. It honors the organization whose strategic, financial or legal advisory contributions have made the most lasting impact on the U.S. online gambling industry, recognizing leadership that shapes the sector’s future beyond transactions alone.
Each American Gambling Awards winner receives a Golden Eagle trophy engraved with their details. Produced by Society Awards--the firm that has produced awards for the Golden Globes® and Emmys®--the Golden Eagle trophy is an 11-inch, gold-plated, cast-pewter statuette of an American Bald Eagle, proudly resting in front of a pile of casino chips.
The Gambling.com Group will again host a celebratory dinner in New York City for winners, judges and partners. Following the success of last year’s memorable evening, the 2025 event will once again be held at Michelin-starred Italian restaurant Torrisi, one of New York’s most in-demand and acclaimed restaurants. This exclusive gathering serves as the highlight of the awards program, celebrating another year of outstanding industry achievements in a truly unforgettable setting. Watch the 2024 sizzle reel to see highlights from last year’s celebration.
