GMB - Natalia, what are the main goals of the association?
Natalia Nogues – First of all, thank you for this opportunity and happy day to all of us. AMIG's main objective is to bring more women into leadership, to increasingly foster their presence in this sector, to provide opportunities and space for them.
We want them to continue to enhance their skills, to be able to share their knowledge with other women. To share these experiences and to create moments of debate, addressing very relevant topics for our market. And for us to be on equal footing with men, knowing that this industry is very male dominated. We really want to bring women to have a more active voice in this sector.
Barbara, we see a lot of female presence in the iGaming sector, especially in the legal area. As a renowned lawyer, do you think there should be more presence?
Barbara Teles - We know that GMB is always with us, providing space and voice for women. These are the opportunities we need and deserve. There are many qualified people, many empowered and qualified women in the field who need to have a voice. It's also about bringing this sense of community because we're all in this together. We know that there are many supportive men as well. Just as I was very well received in the sector, I know many others will be too. And it's these opportunities that we see, not just as a lawyer.
Here I give my testimony, I know that with AMIG we will have many qualified women in all categories. And we will be able to recommend them not only to speak at a conference. It's about showing up, shining a light on women on stage. We know that there are many women in the back office who want to learn, who want to qualify. And this is an opportunity we would like to foster.
At the Ministry of Finance (now Betting Prizes Secretariat), there are three women leading the process and others contributing to this movement. Does this mean that women are increasingly present in Gaming?
Natalia Nogues – Certainly, we are very happy with the appointments at the Ministry. We are very supportive of this. We want empowered representatives to be increasingly part of this process. We already have many working behind the scenes as well. Today, especially at the breakfast we had, we noticed many empowered women leading. They are also present; they also want to create this sense of community among us to be able to work together much better for the industry. I believe we have a lot to do. It really is a project with many strategies, we have various plans. Some for this year and others for the next ones.
How can women join AMIG and how can companies support this project?
Barbara Teles – We already have very well-defined and directed projects. We would like to create not only a networking web but something formalized. We plan to attend events, organize them, hold conferences, conduct webinars, and companies are very welcome to support. The AMIG website has a form that through the QR Code, it is possible to join and receive support from companies. From there, we will sort through and analyze the proposals to provide a quick response and thus get more members, in addition to companies supporting future projects.
How was AMIG's acceptance by the industry?
Natalia Nogues – It surprised us a lot. We even received feedback from many people who spoke from other associations. We received very positive feedback. Today, at the launch breakfast, there were many companies and men supporting this initiative. There were many women interested in joining the association, talking among themselves, creating this networking issue. We are already thinking about the projects, what we will discuss, what the workshops will be, with many people interested. We were really amazed at how quickly AMIG was accepted. I believe this will bring many more benefits for all of us within our industry; we only have to gain.
What are the next steps in terms of attracting female members, and male members as well, why not?
Barbara Teles - We are all partners. We don't want to build a solely female industry, we want an equal, balanced industry. Since we are 51% women in Brazil, why not have that representation also in companies, in events, in everything? Men are our partners, and we already have the support of many of them, including yours. So now we just have to receive these forms, these registration requests, and make way to start the projects, get to work at AMIG.
AMIG has been receiving inquiries from entities in Latin America. Does this mean that this initial "buzz" is also attracting the interest of women from LatAm?
Natalia Nogues - Yes, we had people from other international associations, today there were also the presence of some women from the Latin American gaming association who want to partner. AMIG is not only designed and focused on Brazil. We really want them to come from abroad to AMIG and work with us. We want to increasingly bring the word of everyone and have them come together to make it happen in this market.
For women interested in participating and joining, what's the address again?
Barbara Teles – AMIG.bet
Natália Nogues - Our social networks are also on the website, but just look for AMIG.bet on all networks, we are there too and we will be promoting all projects from now on. This is just the beginning.
Source: Exclusive GMB
