Caesars' Jan Jones Blackhurst named Chief Executive in Residence at UNLV IGI

Jan Jones Blackhurst was recently named Chief Executive in Residence at UNLV International Gaming Institute (IGI), effective Monday, January 6.

Across a decades-long career, Jones Blackhurst has worked in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, serving as an advocate for women in leadership and workplace diversity. Before beginning her time at IGI, she worked for 20+ years in executive leadership roles on the Las Vegas Strip —most notably as Caesars Entertainment’s executive vice president of government relations & corporate social responsibility, and as a Board of Directors member since September 2019. Prior to this, she served for two terms as Las Vegas’ first female mayor.

Since 2015, Jones Blackhurst has worked with UNLV IGI on the “Expanding the Leaderverse” initiative —an academic center of excellence that promotes diversity and inclusiveness at the highest levels of leadership in the gaming and hospitality industry. She joins several other full-time team members of IGI’s Expanding the Leaderverse team, including: Becky Harris, Nevada's first female Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and current IGI Distinguished Fellow in Gaming and Leadership; Shekinah Hoffman, project lead on IGI’s Young Executive Scholars (YES) and Battle Born Girls Innovate (BBGI) initiatives; Jennifer Shatley, longtime Caesars government relations executive; and YES and BBGI operations lead, Itzel Alanis.

Jones Blackhurst has long served as a popular faculty member at IGI’s Executive Development Program —a leadership academy for industry professionals. Her teaching at EDP inspired the launch of IGT’s The Power of We program and the creation of two new industry-funded EDP scholarships for women in gaming (Clarion-ECA-AGEM EDP Scholarship and the Women in Gaming & Hospitality Australasia EDP Scholarship). The 2019 edition of EDP hit a record-high number of female attendees and faculty members.

This past spring, Jones Blackhurst’s work alongside the IGI’s Expanding the Leaderverse team led to the female-majority Nevada State Legislature declaring this initiative to be a priority, and setting aside funding to further support IGI’s efforts.

“A few years ago, I approached then-UNLV President Don Snyder with an idea to launch the world’s first academic initiative dedicated to women and gaming issues,” Jones Blackhurst said, according to an IGI’s news release. “Today, we have already achieved so much, but we are not yet satisfied. A growing body of research now shows that more inclusive leadership teams are more successful. Moving forward, we will change the culture of women in leadership, and we will not stop until this industry becomes a beacon for others to study.”

IGI Executive Director Bo Bernhard notes: “IGI has a long history of supporting women in gaming leadership, and my predecessor, Patty Becker, launched the famed Global Gaming Women program during her time here. While we are proud of all that we do, the Expanding the Leaderverse campaign is our most important initiative, and IGI’s 38 team members join me in welcoming Jan to ‘lead our leaderverse’ into a more inclusive 21st century.”