Home People PBN Award Winners A straight shooter fires her career to the top

A straight shooter fires her career to the top

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Sheryl Nance-Nash

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04/24/2026

STRAIGHT SHOOTER: Dorothy Costa, senior vice president of people and culture at Brightstar Lottery, puts the “human” in human resources, building credibility by connecting with people at all levels of the organization. PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

PBN 2026 C-Suite Awards PUBLIC COMPANY HEADQUARTERED IN RHODE ISLAND: Dorothy Costa Brightstar Lottery senior vice president of people and culture Dorothy Costa describes herself as “what you see is what you get. “That can work for me or against me, but that’s who I am. Being candid has led to my success,” said Costa,

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PBN 2026 C-Suite Awards PUBLIC COMPANY HEADQUARTERED IN RHODE ISLAND: Dorothy Costa Brightstar Lottery senior vice president of people and culture

Dorothy Costa describes herself as “what you see is what you get. “That can work for me or against me, but that’s who I am. Being candid has led to my success,” said Costa, senior vice president of people and culture at Brightstar Lottery, a Providence-based technology provider specializing in lottery management services and retail solutions. Costa, who has been in her present position for five years, was previously vice president of people and transformation, operating as the human resources business partner for approximately 6,000 employees in various countries around the world. Having worked for Brightstar/International Game Technology PLC/GTECH Corp. for more than 27 years, Costa has held various human resources roles of increasing responsibility supporting many different business groups. Her areas of responsibility within these groups included staffing, compensation, employee relations, talent development, succession planning and executive coaching. Costa says she wasn’t sure she was ready for her last promotion because there were aspects of the job that were new for her. “Our [former] CEO told me if any person tells you they know every aspect of their job, they’re lying. He told me that I didn’t have to check every box, that I would get there and there would be people to help me,” she said. Costa took the leap during the COVID-19 pandemic, which complicated things. “At that time, we were a $4 billion company with 11,000 employees, with people working remotely, which was an immense change. I had very little time to transition,” she said. More recently, there have been changes such as last summer’s sale of IGT’s gaming and digital business to Apollo Management. The pure-play global lottery company is now called Brightstar Lottery and serves 90 customers and their players on six continents. Costa said she has learned a lot over the last five years. “It’s been a great experience and I wouldn’t change anything,” she said. “As a company, we’ve gone through changes, we’re resilient.” Costa gets results. Last year, programs delivered under her leadership led to more than 182,000 hours of learning across the company. Those efforts supported the promotion of more than 425 employees and boosted retention. She also oversees the company’s environmental health and safety function, which in the last year played a role in helping eight departments achieve ISO 14001 environmental certifications, and seven departments achieve ISO 45001 health and safety certifications from the International Organization for Standardization. The last four years the company has been awarded a Top Employer certification from the Top Employers Institute for its operations in the U.S. and Italy. The awards recognize organizations that demonstrate excellence in human resources policies and people practices. Costa has come a long way. “I started at a low level and worked my way up, learning every discipline of human resources. I took roles outside my comfort zone. This helped build my business acumen,” Costa said. One thing she shares with young talent is the importance of humility. “Don’t feel like any job is beneath you. If I had to file paperwork, I saw it as an opportunity to learn about policies and documents. Learn from everything and be a team player,” she said. That attitude served her well, as has being direct. “I am a straight shooter, but I’m known for being fair. My intent is always good. I connect well with people at all levels; that’s how I built credibility,” Costa said. George Morse, Brightstar’s director of people and communication, said Costa is “authentic, passionate, receptive and approachable. Dorothy creates an environment where employees feel comfortable and empowered to share their perspectives on every facet of the employee experience,” he said. Costa thanks her parents for her work ethic. She worked in her parents’ dry-cleaning business during the summers or weekends when she was young. “It gave me a firsthand look at what it means to work hard. Those early experiences had a big impact on shaping how I approach challenges and reinforcing the value of perseverance,” she said. Looking forward, Costa is focusing on Brightstar’s culture. “I want to build an amazing culture where people are highly engaged when they are working in the office together,” she said.