A Conversation with IPG-Richmond's Dr. Anne Walters

Billy: What is your role at the Institute?

Anne: I am the Senior Manager of Public and Organizational Research at the Institute’s Richmond location.

Billy: How would you describe your research and praxis?

Anne: My research and praxis focus on how public sector leaders can strengthen and sustain a high-performing workforce. I work with state agencies to strengthen leadership practices that support retention and performance and create a healthy organizational culture. The public sector works best when people feel capable and supported. I champion the idea of “Care for the workforce, and the workforce can care for the community.”

Billy: How did you become affiliated with IPG?

Anne: I began at Virginia Tech in 2022 as a member of a group of researchers based in Richmond with the School of Public and International Affairs. We transitioned to IPG in July 2024.

Billy: What are some projects on which you are currently working?

Anne: I work across several leadership and management development courses. The Virginia Public Sector Leader program is a leadership and management development micro-credential program that we have been delivering to state agency employees for more than 10 years. I am finishing up the 3rd year of a program called CivilianLEAD which is an eight-month development program for the civilian employees of the Virginia State Police. I likewise oversee the Leadership and Management Pathways Program targeted to the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation. We work with frontline employees who are preparing for future leadership roles. I also design and facilitate seminars for the Virginia Management Fellows program and assist Fellows with their agency rotation research projects, which aim to analyze and propose a solution to a challenge that their assigned agency is facing.

Billy: What does a typical day look like for you?

Anne: My “typical” day varies depending on what is going on with our programs. Some weeks I am intensely involved in our development programs and spend all day in our classroom with program participants. Other days I meet with Virginia Management Fellows individually to develop their research and reports. I work across an array of programs so that I am always checking my calendar and anxious that I may have missed something!

Billy: What is one detail your job entails that might be surprising for others to know?

Anne: I take the phrase “and other duties as assigned” in my position description seriously and try to contribute, wherever I can, even in atypical ways. A few years ago, our team was planning the graduation ceremony for the Virginia Management Fellows, and we discussed the logistics of possibly hiring a violinist to play some music during the reception following the program. I volunteered since I have played violin since kindergarten.  It was nice to tell my mom that my parents’ investment in music lessons for all those years had not gone to waste. I think I am now the unofficial IPG Violinist.

Billy: What inspires you to do the work you do?

Anne: I am inspired by the public sector leaders who continue in their roles despite all the challenges that accompany their positions. In a time of bureaucrat bashing and low trust in government, I am inspired by the public employees who understand the purpose of their work and continue, nevertheless. I hope I can offer them some motivation and hope through our programs.

Billy: What is your advice to someone who would want to pursue your area of research and praxis?

  1. Find ways to stay up to date in both scholarly and practical publications. I keep up with current research on public sector motivation just as much as I read practical leadership and management content.
  2. Find ways to understand the perspectives of employees at every level of an organization. I have often worked with groups and found a disconnect between what frontline workers are experiencing and what their leadership believes is happening.
  3. Stay curious and ask questions. I have learned about public sector employee experiences by sitting with individuals at lunch or during a break during our training days and just engaging in conversations.

Billy: What is a potential area of research/grant in the future that you would like to pursue?

Anne: I would like to pursue research into community-engaged approaches in public administration. There are many ways that the community or public may be engaged in our legislative and regulatory processes. I would like to investigate the impact that community members have in those processes and help to find ways that citizens can enjoy still more influence.

Billy: What are some things you like to do in your free time?

Anne: A lot of my free time is hands-on mom life right now and trying to find joy in the chaos that three young sons bring. We love to spend time in the backyard, baking cookies, building forts, and watching entirely too much Paw Patrol. When I do get time to myself, I enjoy creating things: knitting, sewing, and decorating birthday cakes. I recently sewed my kids’ Halloween costumes, for example.  

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