When Paula I. Otto was appointed Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery by Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine in January of 2008, it was a sort of homecoming.  Ms. Otto served as Director of Public Affairs for the Lottery when the first ticket was sold on September 20, 1988, and continued in that position until 1997.  During that time, she was instrumental in shaping and protecting the Lottery’s public image.

As head of an organization that has a unique place in Virginia’s infrastructure, (“a government agency in a business suit,” as she calls it), Ms. Otto believes strongly in maintaining the Lottery’s reputation for integrity, innovation and fun.

An experienced leader and communicator, Ms. Otto was a television news anchor and reporter with WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia, before joining the Lottery.  In 1997 she accepted a faculty position at Virginia Commonwealth University, eventually rising to the position of Associate Director of the School of Mass Communications.

Ms. Otto was raised in Arlington, Virginia.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University and a master’s degree in public communication from American University in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Otto and her husband, Dan Timberlake, live in Hanover County, Virginia.



Other key staff:
Richard E. Williams, Jr. - Deputy Director
Sharyn Campbell - Director of Administration and Strategy Management
Mark Cannon - Director of Internal Audit
Cy Coleman - Director of Information Technology
Deborah Courtney - Director of Finance
Gweneth Dean - Director of Marketing
Frank Ferguson - General Counsel and Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
Gail Morykon - Director of Security
Anne O'Meally - Director of Human Resources
Jill Vaughan - Director of Communications
Rob Wesley - Director of Sales

Year established: 1988

Products offered:
Instant games, Pick 3, Pick 4, Cash 5, Mega Millions, Powerball, Win for Life

Total FY '09 Sales: $1.365 billion
Total FY '08 Sales: $1.386 billion
Total FY '09 Revenues to State: $439.1 million
Total FY '08 Revenues to State: $455.3 million
 
Fiscal year ends: June 30

Beneficiaries:
K-12 Public Education

Public referendums:
The Virginia Lottery was created on December 1, 1987, following a 57% to 43% vote in favor of a lottery in November, 1987. Sales began in September of 1988. On November 7, 2000, more than 80 percent of Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment creating the State Lottery Proceeds Fund and dedicating all lottery profits to public education, grades K-12.

Board members:

Cynthia D. Lawrence - Chairman
Gilliam M. Cobbs - Vice Chairman
Susan Smith Feaster
James M. Wofford
David H. Hallock, Jr.