Lee Willows
Founder & Executive Chair
Leads on strategy, fundraising, political engagement
From humble beginnings, son of a miner and born in the Midlands, UK, and currently studying towards his PhD. Lee has worked predominantly in the Education, Charity and Gaming & Gambling sectors for over 32 years, progressing from a front line youth worker and post-16 educator to holding Managing Director and Chief Executive positions. Leading the work of large (£60m+) complex organisations, Lee has devoted himself to public service to improve the life chances of others. With a proven track record of servant leadership; significant B2B sales and income generation £50m+, political engagement at the highest levels and significant experience working within regulatory frameworks with a detailed knowledge of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) approaches.
More recently Lee founded the highly-respected, impactful and multi-award winning Young Gamers & Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) charity. Building the charity from nothing following his gambling addiction. Raised over £15m and grew the charity with no debt. Lead a talented team that reaches over 1m benefactrices annually. Lee is now studying for an PhD alongside his volunteer work with Virgin Start Up while Community Care Gaming is being established.
Adrian Sladdin
Leads on partnership building within the Private Healthcare Sector
Adrian began his career as an English and Drama teacher before progressing to the world of accreditation and qualifications for a UK Awarding Body, latterly as Head of Business Development. He has spent the last decade working in the safer gambling space on a variety of different programmes. He was one of the founders of YGAM, the Young Gamblers Education Trust with Lee Willows, creating their training programme for teachers and youth workers as well as an extensive set of resources for secondary school pupils and university students. In 2017 he created and delivered a level 2 qualification for betting shop managers and staff called ‘Keeping Colleagues and Customers Safe’. The success of this led to his delivering the programme to other companies including Lottoland, Bet Victor and Playtech.
John Dabill, Technical Director
Leads in Technical XR Development
John Dabill is a seasoned technology leader with a career that spans some of the world’s most pioneering companies in mobile innovation and immersive technology—including Ericsson, BlackBerry, Motorola, and most recently, HTC VIVE.
As part of HTCs EMEA leadership team, John played a key role in shaping the company’s XR and Spatial Computing strategy. Within the VIVERSE division, he led initiatives that helped drive enterprise adoption of immersive technologies, including a very successful Development Partner Program to support real-world XR applications.
Now working as an independent advisor, John partners with startups and scale-ups across the XR ecosystem, helping them navigate and unlock the transformative potential of immersive tech.
