Dale Walters

State Leadership of the Year

Dale Walters has worked for the State of Illinois for more than six years, first as a telecommunications manager and now as chief of network operations. Walters says one of the lessons that came to the forefront in the last year is balancing implementing technology with supporting the IT team. One of the biggest takeaways from managing a slew of projects during the pandemic is that communication with teams needs to be a “two-way street.” “They also need to recognize during the busy times and during these rough moments that if they have a challenge, I’m here to support them,” he says.