Stake’s Diana Margarita Otalora has been awarded the prestigious Leader of the Year title at the 2024 SBC Latinoamérica Awards. This recognition highlights Stake’s rapid growth in Latin America and comes as the operator marks its first anniversary of operations in Colombia, a key market in its broader Latam expansion strategy.
As General Manager for Latam and Country Manager for Colombia, Otalora’s leadership exemplifies Stake’s commitment to hiring top local talent to drive regional growth. Her efforts were instrumental in establishing Stake’s presence in Colombia, where she successfully oversaw the integration of teams following Stake’s acquisition of Betfair Colombia, ensuring a smooth transition and continuity for the business.
In line with Stake’s progressive recruitment approach, the Latam team has recently been reinforced with Jennyfer Escobar, the newly appointed Country Manager for Peru, who played a central role in securing Stake’s Peruvian licence. Under Otalora’s leadership, the Latam division has grown to over 35 employees, with plans to continue expanding across the region.
Building on its success in Colombia, Stake aims to further solidify its Latam footprint, with entry into Peru and Brazil as well as additional regional markets on the horizon.
“At Stake, we want to appoint the best people for the role. Our ambition is nothing less than to become a leading player in the Latin American sports betting market.” said Otalora.
“It has been rewarding to find those attributes in my fellow Latina leaders, who are pulling together to propel Stake forwards in Latam’s emerging regulated markets.
“We work hard every day to ensure that gambling in our home countries is both exciting and safe for players, who have come to expect nothing less from Stake over the years.”
Luisa Muñoz, Head of Operations, Latam for Stake, said: “Under Diana’s leadership, we have launched one of the largest gaming companies in the world in the Colombian market and are now expanding our horizons to all of Latam.
“Working with Diana, I have grown both professionally and personally: professionally, by being able to evolve my role in the organisation from managing the Customer Experience processes to now leading the operation for Latam. Personally, she has guided me, trusted me, empowered me and has opened the way for me to contribute value to the company on a daily basis.
“This is what true leaders do.”
We recently interviewed Diana, which can be read here.
