Terry Sebastian

Vice President, Communications & Public Relations, Kentucky Lottery

Published August 19, 2025

It is increasingly important for the Kentucky Lottery to have a strong communications program for internal and external partners. The Lottery has such good stories to tell about its amazing employees, players, winners, retailers, beneficiaries and so many more.

With Terry heading the communications efforts, the Lottery is assured that the spotlight is focused on each and every one of these individuals.

Since coming to the Lottery a year and a half ago, after 30 years in government communications, Terry brought the whole package: an experienced communications professional, creative, innovative, and – most importantly for us here at the Kentucky Lottery – he has a very collaborative mentality.

He has already undertaken a number of impactful initiatives. In particular, he’s contributed to significantly moving the needle on beneficiary awareness and has completely owned and revitalized the Lottery’s responsible gambling program, now called Positive Play. And he is taking it to a new level.

When the Kentucky Lottery was asked to hold three drawings for the state’s new medical cannabis program, Terry stepped up. The drawings were quite an undertaking. While they were done essentially in the way drawings are normally done, they had to be coordinated with many representatives from the Office of Medical Cannabis, as well as the Governor and his staff. They were also performed in front of a “gaggle” of media and viewed via livestream all across the state. Thanks to Terry coordinating with these state offices and participating in the livestreamed events, each was carried out with experience and knowledge, all to the benefit of the Kentucky Lottery.

Always forward-thinking, Terry recently brought Kentucky Lottery’s Winner Awareness back into the communications department after it had been housed in the marketing department for two years. By doing so, he is ensuring there is a more strategic focus on winners – with an expanded packaging of the winner experience including photo concepts, graphics, and short soundbites and b-roll that are shared on social media and sent to reporters. Additionally, Terry has aligned winner awareness with several departments within the Lottery – products, finance, sales and marketing – to highlight certain games that need exposure to players and retailers in order to increase interest in those games.

Terry is an outstanding representative for the Kentucky Lottery in representing the integrity and commitment behind the Edward J. Powers Award.