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SBC Leaders Podcast is a series of interviews with CEOs and decision makers at some of the betting and gaming industry's biggest, best and most innovative companies. SBC's Kelly Kehn is the host who asks the questions.
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My name is Sue Schneider. I'm vice president of growth and strategy for SBC gaming. This is our leaders podcast and I'm very, very fortunate to have a guest that I think you'll find very interesting. And it's Katherine Meade who is vice president of community sustainability and social responsibility for OLG, which is the Ontario lottery and gaming corporation. So that's a mouthful, but welcome.
Thank you. Glad to have you on here. Well, it's great to be here and I really appreciate the invitation. Looking forward to it. And I do want to say too that you are also recognized at our May 24 North American event at our awards dinner as the North American leader of the year. Yes, well thank you very much. Congratulations on that. That's a great recognition. It was both, it was an honor and a shock.
But I'm certainly very, very pleased to be recognized as such. And humbling all in one. Shocking. An honor and humbling. Sounds like it was a whole range of emotions that night. whole range of emotions that night. Absolutely. But they were all really positive. thanks. Well, if you could start out by talking to us about your background and how you got to where you are now. Well, some people have a career path.
I describe it more as a career labyrinth because I've done a number of things. So I started out in the EDI field, or a lot of people call it DEI field, diversity, equity and inclusion. And at that time it was just called equity. And I was in that field for eight years between law school and between grad school and law school. Then I went to law school, practiced law for a number of years as well and both private practice and in -house.
Immediately before coming to OLG, I worked with the City of Toronto overseeing, we had about $350 million worth of capital projects related to the 2015 Pan American Games that we hosted here in Toronto. And that was actually a great role because it brought together my, I have two,
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My undergrad is in Phys Ed, I have a Masters in Sport Administration. So bringing that together with then the legal training and I was also, I had done an MBA as well. So it really just brought all that together in one role, so that was great. And then I've been with OLG, shockingly for me, for nine years. And had a number of roles at the director level and then have
with have been VP for the past four years, four and a half actually. And what exactly do you do in that role then? That is a good question. Depends on the day, right? That's right. There's a lot going on and that's why my title is a mouthful because there's a lot in my role. so first of all, community. And so I oversee our community programs and sponsorship. when OLG sponsors
the Jazz Festival, starts tomorrow night, Toronto Jazz or Ottawa Jazz or Pride, which is also ongoing now, any community events that comes through me and my team in terms of proving that or declining. As well, the sustainability piece we have in the last year and a bit really launched our sustainability and social impact.
area and so that's that work is under me as well and then I have two teams in when we say social responsibility we're for the large for the most part referring to responsible gambling and we have two teams there one that does the policy research and strategy that undergirds the work of our program development and delivery so that's the other side so that's what I do. There have been a lot of changes in the last few years given the expansion
here so can you explain I think most people are aware of it but can you explain what happened with that expansion and how that may have affected what you do in particular but OLG in general? Yeah so well I can say up until 2022 OLG was the only operator that was legally entitled to operate digital
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online gambling in the province. And then in April of 2022, then officially that was open to any operator that was licensed through the newly created entity called iGaming Ontario, iGO. And if they're licensed through them, then they get to offer and operate online gaming in the province.
That's a, I mean that was significant in number of ways, right? So first off, we were, as I said, we were the only ones legally entitled to operate, I don't we call it conduct and manage is really it, gaming and gambling in the province for lottery, for casinos, as well as online. And now it's just, then it's just online that has been opened
So our monopoly in that space then was eliminated. In the same way though, because we know we were not the only ones operating, we were just the only ones doing it legally. And so what's now happened is now there are, I think the minister said this one, about 49 operators now in addition to us that are legally operating. that is important, right?
Because in order to be licensed there are a number of criteria that have to be met which ultimately lead to safer gambling opportunities for people who want options outside of OLG. Interestingly what has happened is where one might think that that would have led to almost a death knell of OLG, at least that part of our business.
In fact, in that first year when they came in and they were doing well, well, as far as I know, it was a record year for us as well. So it's turned out to be quite positive all the way around. And the key thing in my view is that it's you know, while, listen, you gotta love a monopoly when you're the one who has it, right? But that said.
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I think what's been critical in all of that is that it's given options for people to play legally and have all the protections that come along with that outside of, if you're not going to go with OLG, which is very sad, but if you're not going to go with OLG, at least you're going with someone else that is a legal entity. And so, well, that's, I think that's positive in the end. Well, and it is a little surprising that it's been as win -win a proposition.
as it's turned out to be so hopefully that will hold. And I know Minister Nally from Alberta this morning talked about them opening up and even utilizing a similar model to what Ontario has. So you may have opened the door even for other provinces to explore this. Well yeah, think that you know you'd asked what impact it had on our work specifically and certainly when you know now that the market has been opened up that does now we have
a number of our responsible gambling safeguards and opportunities we just have to recognize how that fits in terms of options that people have elsewhere. And for us we've been very fortunate to have been recognized for the robustness of our program. It just helps us to ensure that we are...
we're offering things at the same level or really higher than others that are coming into the marketplace, right? And it's giving us an opportunity to see what others are doing and are there opportunities for us to up our game because at the end of the day, I personally believe that responsible gambling isn't, that's one area we're not really competing in, right? And we all benefit. If players are healthy, making healthy decisions, we all benefit, right? It doesn't really help us that someone
you know, self -excluded from another site because they've started to lose their, you know, their family, their home. Then they come over to us as a broken player and they also, you know, lose what little bit they have left. No one benefits. We really don't. And for us, as...
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as an Ontario entity, we're really, this isn't an abstract proposition, we're talking about our neighbours, our friends, our family members, that's, right? The players are all in Ontario and we're located in Ontario. So socially we don't benefit either, right? So, but we all benefit from having healthy players, making healthy decisions across all of the platforms. It doesn't matter whether you're playing with us or any of our competitors.
So yeah, it just helps us continue to up our game and make sure that we're offering at a similar level or we try to be better than others. And that's the impact it's really had on us. Well, and from a provincial level, clearly, you know, getting revenue, getting jobs.
things like that but i i you know i think if there is consistency on the player protection part of it that's going to be really
one of the most important factors. You don't want to create something and then have to have an agency over here to try to clean up the issues. Yeah, that's a real, yeah, that's a zero sum game, right? Yeah, you've got some money in the moment and then there are the knock on impacts that are highly detrimental. How would you describe your management style? I would say that my leadership style is probably a hybrid of two things. One, I am
servant leader, that's how I grew up. And so that continues. And also very much a transformational leader, looking for ways to transform the members of my team. And really just, I'm very invested in the growth of my team members. And you know, I've been extremely...
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I kind of have an embarrassment of riches in terms of my team because they're really, each one of them is really outstanding. Each one of them has won some award over the other as an individual, recognizing their contributions as have members of their teams, I guess I would say below them, right? So I just have a real, I take real pride in my bench strength.
And yeah, I have a very keen interest in my team members and I really look at what I can do to help them achieve what they need to achieve. And it's not, and they all know, it's not the Catherine Mead show that's not really gonna get us very far. It's really about really how do we all work together and...
You know, we rise and fall as a team. I also have a very, very strong teamwork ethic.
contrary to what it might appear. I was a varsity athlete. Sport has been very much a part of my life. And I ran track in university. So I was a sprinter. I continue to be active. That's just me. But I really strongly believe in the power of team and teamwork. And that's certainly borne itself out in the
of what I've done all along, including what I'm doing now with my team at OLG.
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Let me get a little more personal because I've known you for a little while and I follow you in social media and I am fascinated by what you do in your spare time. You are quite an adventurer. So talk about what you like to do in that regard and how you got started doing that sort of thing. So what I do, I believe what you're referring to is I certainly do enjoy discovering the world on two wheels and those two wheels are
Motorcycle wheels that is and I have been doing adventure motorcycling trips now for a number of years and have been really privileged to ride through southern Africa, through the Himalayas in Nepal, the Himalayas in India which I did last summer
at the end of this year i'll be going through the patagonia region of chili and and argentina so that's that is that's true and i'm how i got into it so i'd i'd always wanted to ride a motorcycle but just you know with the one summer i was going to do it i
I injured myself playing basketball, I broke my wrist playing basketball, so that didn't happen. And then, you know, just suddenly, there you go, time goes on. And finally, I got a motorcycle license in 2011. And since then have really, I enjoy riding and that's how I commute to and from work generally. Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, yeah, for sure. And have done that for...
many, many years. It went in the summer, is, obviously. But I've also then, I always have traveled a lot. So I've been to probably 50 -something countries across six continents. So I travel lot anyway. And then at layering on, motorcycling just really added a whole other dimension. And when you do sort of, we call adventure motorcycling, that also opens
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opportunity to parts of the world that are difficult or impossible to see by car. And then you really see some spectacular parts of the world. And yeah, so to have that opportunity, I've certainly, my decision
Right now, while I still have the strength and physical wherewithal to do these kinds of rides, because you're not sitting there enjoying the ride like you ride standing up, you're navigating Lord knows what. So while I have that physical ability, then those are the rides I will do and then later.
I'll do those great rides where everything is paved and you're going through the Swiss Alps or something like that. That'll come later. But right now while I can, while I have the stamina, I'm doing those. as I said, you're going hard. And listen, then I was saying in yesterday's panel, because we're asking, you what do we do for fun? So I talked about this, but I said, you know, I'm not going to lie. There certainly are times like
you know as I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes yet again I'm thinking like what is wrong with me like lots of people vacation by car like why aren't you one of them so you know there are times that that does come to my mind but really the payoff for that effort is huge.
And it's, yeah, as I say, you one last question related to that. What was one of the more harrowing experiences that you may have had doing that? Yeah, well, know, it's not hard to hit. There were a few, definitely last summer in the Ladakh region of India, in the Indian Himalayas. you know, I've had a few, but certainly, I mean, what you need to know is that
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The road is carved into the mountainside and it's a single lane for two directions. And there's no guard rail, there is just a sheer drop. And the roads are not paved, so it's all little stones rolling around and there you are on a motorcycle, navigating your way around.
gravel and then it's not just like well it's not a straight road right it's so there's hairpin turns there are a number of things that you're doing so add all those factors together and yeah I would say last summer won won the prize for times I saw times I was really really wondering you know what was I thinking but again I have to say though honestly it was so every
day was so spectacular. I don't know what to say, right? It was just so spectacular. mean, same thing in Africa. There was something, some sort of challenge with each country.
really, Botswana was potholes, potholes that if you went in them, you would damage the bike. Like they were that deep and that big and all that. But you're navigating potholes, so there's that challenge. true story, this happened more than once. You're riding, you look up, and in the distance, I don't want to pretend it's right there, but there's an elephant crossing the road, right? it's, you know,
Yeah, you're dealing with almost a slalom situation of the road, seriously, to have the, and I can only call it privilege, of being able to ride around and have ostriches really run, like a puppy, running with you. They're running and you're riding and there's an ostrich. Or seeing elephants in the distance, right? It's anything it takes to navigate the roads, really. But it's a full -on...
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full -on privilege. I recognize it for what it is. To have the physical, financial, whatever wherewithal to do what I do, I'm very fortunate and I know it. Well that's great. I hope you have many, many more years ahead of you doing that. Thank you. Again, we've been talking with Catherine Mead with OLG and great stories, so thank you for coming. Thank you. Thanks for having