Suzanna Shkreli

Michigan Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli knows the feeling of good fortune from the golden opportunities she’s received in her career over the last decade.

“I feel incredibly blessed and honored to have the chance to serve my community in the different ways that I have, ” said Shkreli, who recently received the Oakland Together 40 Under 40 award, for the best and the brightest professionals living or working in Oakland County in business, arts, education and public service.

Coming from a family who stressed hard work and education, Shkreli is a first-generation American of Albanian ethnicity. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Oakland University and her Juris Doctor degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and then went on to become a prosecutor in Macomb County with the United States Department of Child Protection.

With earnest devotion to the welfare and safety of children, the committed prosecutor served as Michigan’s Children’s Ombudsman and worked as deputy legal counsel in the Executive Office of the Governor. She also served as Director of Juvenile Justice Reform at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

The Birmingham resident also serves in Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s cabinet and is a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect. She has chaired the training subcommittee on child fatality protocol development, “to help pinpoint areas where services designed to protect may be failing physically and sexually abused children.”

Whitmer appointed Shkreli commissioner of the Michigan Lottery in 2024, where the newcomer generated $4.8 billion in gross sales and contributed $1.2 billion from the lottery to the State School Aid Fund.

Checking in after her first year as “the commish,” Shkreli said,”I am loving this year and all of the innovative ways we are growing. We are creating new games like the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers-themed games that have sold out, as well as modernizing operations and generating sales for funds the Michigan Lottery uses to support public and charter schools, higher education institutes and more.”

One of Shkreli’s favored initiatives is “Excellence in Education” that honors educators across the state.

”Each week of the school year, a public educator is chosen to visit Lansing and receive an award of $2,000, and then another award for $10,000 is given annually to one of the finalists,” she said.

Family time is important as well. “I have a twin brother and another brother and sister and we all value being together,” she said. “We have all practiced in fields of law and established the first Albanian American Bar Association in Michigan.

“In my free time you’ll find me walking around downtown Birmingham and stopping to eat at some favorite spots like Phoenician, La Strada Italian Kitchen, and Tallulah Wine Bar & Bistro. And I can’t resist stopping for ice cream, my favorite being Dairy Deluxe.“

Activity on the political rumor mill may be picking up as to what the future holds for Shkreli, as she was tagged by the Democratic Party to run for Congress in 2016 and ran against incumbent Mike Bishop in the 8th District. “Right now I’m focused on my position with the Michigan Lottery and not looking anywhere else,” she said.

“I do stay open to opportunities as they come, and will always continue to do that in my future, I’m sure,” says Shkreli. Like one of her favorite popular Michigan Lottery slogans says, ”You can’t win if you don’t play”.

Story: Susan Peck