The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Tennessee Education Lottery, Rebecca Graham Paul, has ended her 23-year leadership tenure with the company.
Paul has had a hugely varied career in the American lottery industry, having previously held leadership roles at the Florida, Georgia and Illinois lotteries, and being a former President of the World Lottery Association (WLA).
Born in Indiana, Paul was the first ever female President of the WLA and was re-elected to the role in 2020. Her experience of lottery leadership prompted her to create the Women’s Initiative in Lottery Leadership, a worldwide women’s advancement programme.
As well as leading the WLA, Paul was also either President or Chair of various offices in the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) and the Multi-State Lottery Association (MSLA).
“Starting Women in Lottery Leadership has been one of the greatest highlights of my career,” Paul remarked. “Working with so many talented, dedicated professionals who truly care about the difference they make in so many lives through the support of good causes has been the other.”
As President and CEO of the Tennessee Education Lottery for over two decades, Paul has overseen the lottery during a period of substantial change for both its own operations and those of the American lottery sector at large.
This included the growing digitisation of lotteries, the influx of lottery couriers into the American lottery ecosystem, and the 2018 repeal of PASPA which permitted states to set up their own regulated sports betting and gaming markets.
Tennessee was an early adopter of legal sports betting, passing the Sports Gaming Act in May 2024 which laid the foundations for the creation of a multi-licenced betting market in 2020.
Having taken on the disruptive impact these different developments have had on the lottery space, Paul oversaw the continued growth of the Tennessee Education Lottery.
The lottery diversified its product range by launching its own sportsbook, declaring hundreds of millions in revenue from sports wagering in quarterly trading reports.
In June 2021 it declared $2bn in revenue for the first time, while the year prior it became the first US lottery to join the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) sports integrity body.
Commenting on Paul’s tenure, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said: “Rebecca has served Tennessee with distinction, and her leadership of the Tennessee Education Lottery has expanded opportunity for students across our state.”
Will Carver, Chair of the Lottery’s Board of Directors, added: “Rebecca has been an invaluable asset to Tennessee and the lottery industry. We will deeply miss her professionalism, vision, expertise and leadership, but wish her the absolute best in her well-earned retirement. Her legacy cannot be overstated.”