Regulated Gaming Staff
Table of Contents
Regulated Gaming Staff
Eric Snider
Chief Regulatory Officer
Eric Snider, a former private litigator and an in-house government attorney, leads the North Carolina State Lottery Commission’s Regulated Gaming Division. Snider’s legal training and experience guides his work administering the agency’s regulatory functions.
Previously, Snider was the Commission’s Deputy General Counsel providing legal advice and services to support all facets of lottery operations. He also helped implement the law authorizing gaming in North Carolina.
Snider began his career in private practice, practicing complex products liability litigation across the United States and an AmLaw 100 firm and later joined a Raleigh firm where he represented regional and national clients in commercial and employment disputes. He is also no stranger to public service. Snider has served as General Counsel to the North Carolina State Board of Education and as a Deputy General Counsel at the North Carolina Department of Information Technology.
Snider graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 2007 and holds degrees in English and Sociology from the University of Kansas. He is also a Teach For America alumnus; before attending law school he taught high school special education at Louisburg High School in Franklin County, North Carolina.
Madison Mackenzie
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Madison Mackenzie serves as Director of Regulatory Affairs for the Regulated Gaming Division, overseeing the audits and investigations of gaming operators to ensure compliance with all state gaming laws and regulations. Mackenzie provides legal services and advice to support the agency’s regulatory functions.
Mackenzie has over a decade of experience in public sector law, having held key legal roles in the areas of occupational licensing, public health regulation, and healthcare fraud and abuse. Mackenzie has extensive experience navigating complex regulatory environments, advising state agencies on statutory and administrative requirements, and litigating on behalf of the state in administrative hearings.
Previously, Mackenzie was the Commission’s Senior Attorney, providing legal guidance on administrative law, policy development, and agency regulatory operations.
Mackenzie earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law, through the evening program. Mackenzie holds dual bachelor’s degrees in psychology and criminal justice from Appalachian State University.
Additional staff in the Commission’s Regulated Gaming Division:
Abby Fusca Regulatory Investigator
Rhonda Holmes Licensing & Compliance Specialist
April Jones Compliance Specialist
Diana Lehman Compliance Manager
Ryan Moss Digital Systems Investigator
Leah Neptune Licensing & Compliance Specialist
Irene Rotich Regulatory Investigator
Tammy Stroud Player Protection Specialist
Jordan Tillman Player Protection Manager
Commission Staff
Mr. Mark Michalko
Chief Executive Officer, North Carolina Education Lottery since March 2018.
Mark Michalko, a gaming industry veteran who brings more than four decades of experience in both US lottery and international gaming, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the N.C. Education Lottery.
Michalko’s broad experience includes executive management roles in both world-class gaming operators and global technology supplier companies across various segments of the gaming industry. Having led gaming businesses based in the US, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Michalko brings best practices from around the world to North Carolina’s lottery.
Before joining the lottery in March 2018, Michalko worked in London where he served as Vice President and Managing Director of International Game Technology’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, following five years in Macau as head of IGT’s business in Asia. He also led Intralot’s expansion in Asia.
Michalko’s lottery experience began in 1980 as Legal Counsel for the Ohio Lottery. In 1985, he was selected as the founding Executive Director of the California State Lottery and led the organization to record revenue and profitability in its first year. He later served as the founding CEO of a publicly listed company that operated the first national draw lottery in the Philippines. He was inducted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame in 2019.
Under Michalko’s leadership, the lottery has achieved record sales and returns to education. Annual sales grew by 79% to $4.35 billion in FY 2023 from $2.42 billion the year before Michalko joined the lottery and net revenue to education grew to more than $1 billion, up from $622 million in the same period. The lottery also obtained recertification at the highest level for responsible gaming from the World Lottery Association and was recognized by the Triangle Business Journal as a “Best Place to Work.”
Michalko, an Ohio native, received a Bachelor’s degree in Government and Political Science from John Carroll University and a Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife, Kimberly. The couple have two adult sons.
Mr. Greg Bowers
Chief Financial Officer
Greg Bowers has decades of experience in the lottery industry. Before joining the NC Education Lottery in June of 2023, he worked with the Ohio Lottery for more than 30 years. While serving as Finance Director in Ohio, his office won the Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting every year.
Bowers is responsible for over 40 lottery employees in the areas of financial reporting, collection, payroll, prize award payment, retailer contracts, and the security and integrity of all lottery drawings and operations.
Bowers holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cleveland State University and a Master of Business Administration from Ashland University.
Mr. Hayden Bauguess
Chief Government Affairs Officer
Hayden Bauguess is the Chief Government Affairs Officer for the North Carolina State Lottery Commission. He tracks legislation that has potential impact on the lottery and serves as an advisor on strategic matters for the lottery business in the state. With more than a decade of experience in politics, Bauguess formed strong working relationships with state government officials and elected leaders on lottery and regulated gaming topics.
Prior to joining the Commission staff in 2018, Bauguess began his career in Washington, D.C as an intern for Representative Howard Coble. He then returned to North Carolina to become a lobbyist for a top, private governmental affairs firm in Raleigh. Bauguess also served as Senior Legislative Relations Specialist for ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc.
Bauguess graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.
George Walker
Chief Technology Officer
George Walker serves as the Chief Technology Officer with more than 27 years of experience in the information technology field. He joined the lottery at start-up in 2006 in its MIS and Gaming System division and served as director of MIS for eight years.
During his career, Walker has built expertise in multiple areas of IT including Project Management, Cyber Security, Software development, Systems Engineering, Business Intelligence, Voice and Data Network Architecture.
He worked previously in IT positions for major organizations, including JPMorgan Chase and Roche Pharmaceuticals.
A native of New Jersey, Walker graduated from DeVry University and lives in Wake County. He enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, and all things automotive.
William Traurig
Chief Legal Officer
William “Billy” Traurig oversees the legal team with over 30 years of business, finance, and legal experience.
Traurig previously served in a variety of roles for the Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Club and PNC Arena (now Lenovo Center), starting as Director of Finance in 1999 and ending as senior vice president and general counsel from 2012 to April 2020, when he joined the lottery.
Traurig received his law degree from NC Central School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude and served as managing editor of the Law Review, and his Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts where he also earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.
He has served on several boards including as a former chair of the NC Travel and Tourism Coalition.
North Carolina State Lottery Commission
Additional Information
