Jonathan Parke is the director of the consumer research hub ‘Sophro’ which specialises in independent research and education on the topic of gambling behaviour and harm minimisation.
Jonathan has served as principal investigator on a variety of government, industry and research council sponsored research projects most of which focusing on gambling behaviour. In his previous role as Director of Commissioning for the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) in Great Britain he has helped reshape the gambling research agenda at a national level. In terms of education and training, Dr. Parke has developed, delivered and managed university level courses and corporate training programs in gambling studies over the last decade including some of the world’s first undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs in Gambling Studies at the University of Salford. On an on-going basis, he consults for some of the world’s biggest providers of betting and gaming to develop their responsible gambling policies. His career goal is to impact society by informing political, commercial and clinical activities through ecologically valid gambling research.
Maris Bonello currently occupies the role Head of Player Sustainability Research at Kindred. She started as a Risk and Fraud Analyst with Unibet and after receiving her Psychology MSc from the University of Leicester, took on the role of Responsible Gaming Manager. She has a Diploma in Gambling Addiction Counselling and Psychology, and is now reading for her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Mark Griffiths, focusing primarily on the analysis of the early signs of online problem gambling, responsible gaming tools and responsible gaming promotion.
Pierre joined the RGA as Director of Government Relations in August 2015. In his role, Pierre is primary in charge of regulatory developments at national level and represents the association in all the EU members states. Prior to joining the RGA, Pierre worked for 5 years as a consultant at Instinctif Partners in Brussels. As the head of the online gambling practice, Pierre advised and represented a number of online gambling clients, including the RGA, in all their dealings with EU institutions. Pierre holds a LLM in European Law from University College Dublin and a MA in Comparative Law from the University of Toulouse.
Ben has responsibility for a portfolio which brings together the Commission’s market and social research function, and specialists across the various industry sectors. This includes the associated stakeholder engagement, national and international, with a particular interest in best practice. He also shares the senior collective responsibility to deliver the wider Commission business plan.
Ben arrived at the Commission through the merger with the National Lottery Commission. He had worked in a variety of senior roles within the NLC across Insight, Corporate Affairs and Operations, including Head of Evaluation during the third National Lottery licence competition process.
Frank Pitsikalis is the Founder & CEO of ResortSuite – a global hospitality software solution for luxury spas, clubs and resorts. He is also the Chairman of the ISPA Foundation Board and an established speaker/presenter at numerous prominent industry events within the hospitality, technology and resort spa sectors on how technology can help streamline operations, drive revenue and enhance the guest experience.
