Florida Lottery’s Secretary Jim Poppell speaks about integrity at NASPL’s PDS

We need to take responsible action before it happens. It is all about good judgment… Good judgment in business is the skill to anticipate outcomes, the foresight to anticipate responsibility every time. The difficult part is doing the responsible thing every single time.

— Jim Poppell

We just returned home from NASPL’s Professional Development Seminar in Orlando, Florida. As always, it was a great opportunity to connect with people and gain insights from industry leaders. Thanks to the NASPL team for organizing another wonderful conference.

We want to highlight the session that resonated most with us, a session run by Jim Poppell, Secretary of the Florida Lottery. Jim spoke about how crucial it is for the public to trust lotteries’ integrity. He said: “Public confidence is vital. What happens if the public loses confidence in a game? Without public confidence lotteries could not function.”

Jim went on to discuss how lotteries need to uphold the strongest standards of integrity EVERY SINGLE TIME – that is, to consistently do the right thing, and make sure that the public can see lotteries are always doing the right thing. “How long will it take until the public says we can’t trust this system? … The primary thing we need to do is take responsibility for fraud – not leave it up to the fraudster. We need to take responsible action before it happens. It is all about good judgment… Good judgment in business is the skill to anticipate outcomes, the foresight to anticipate responsibility every time. The difficult part is doing the responsible thing every single time. Taking responsibility is putting ourselves in the shoes of the players and doing the right thing for them. Taking responsibility is putting ourselves in the shoes of the regulators and doing the right thing for them.“ His words, as director of a large and influential lottery, are powerful and reflect the accountability that lotteries have to their customers. It is inspiring to know that integrity is one of his core values.

Jim made it very clear that he does not just speak about integrity. He shared how the Florida lottery decided to take down their biggest retailer of lottery tickets after they discovered fraudulent behavior. Even though this retailer brought in lots of money for the lottery, they chose integrity over revenue! This example illustrates that the lottery did not make any exceptions when there was any question about integrity. Thank you, Jim! We’re sure these ideals are shared by other directors, and we are grateful to have heard Jim’s speech and share his important message.