Lottery organisations the World Lottery Association (WLA) and the European Lotteries have both reflected on the life of former WLA General Secretary Yvonne Schnyder, who passed away earlier this month.
Schnyder died on May 6, 2021, at the age of 78 at her home in Bottmingen, Switzerland. She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Werner Schnyder, who passed away in September 2020.
The WLA reflected on Yvonne’s lottery career, which spanned over 40 years, and began when she worked as an assistant to the General Secretary of Intertoto, one of a few lottery associations that merged to form the WLA. She moved up to become General Secretary of the association in 1985, serving under then Intertoto President, Lothar Lammers.
When Intertoto merged with the International Association of State Lotteries (AILE) in 1999 to form the WLA, the General Secretaries of both predecessor associations called upon Schnyder to run WLA headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, with Lynne Roiter overseeing the new association’s North American office in Montreal, Canada.
During her time as the WLA’s General Secretary, Schnyder brought AILE and Intertoto members together, laying the groundwork for the WLA that exists today. She stepped down as General Secretary in 2006 to establish a successful lottery consultancy, which she ran until her retirement in 2011.
The WLA noted that Schnyder was admired by its members worldwide because of her ‘vast knowledge’ of the lottery industry and her’ genuine interest in people’, as well as her ‘diplomatic skills and her profound sensitivity to cultural differences’.