During the annual InfraGard National Congress and Leadership Conference in Chicago, Dave Johnson, President of InfraGard Peoria Members Alliance and Managing Partner at Pearl Technology, received the organization’s top award: the Ivan Wolkind IMA Leader of the Year Award.

This year’s event was attended by InfraGard leaders from all 50 states as well as FBI personnel, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Christopher Raia. As part of the gathering, the InfraGard National Awards Program hosts a ceremony to recognize top InfraGard and FBI personnel.

Leader of the Year Award

Dave was honored to receive the top award this year. Named after Wolkind, the Chairman of the Board who tragically died in 2024, this Leader of the Year Award recognizes only one person each year. Dave was recognized for his leadership of Peoria InfraGard and its outstanding members, his work educating the public about cybersecurity, fraud, and Nihilistic Violent Extremism, and his work with many FBI Special Agents, intelligence Analysts, and the leadership of FBI Springfield.

“This is a huge honor for me,” Dave said. “Special thanks goes to Gary Pearl who wholeheartedly supports our work with InfraGard and gives us the freedom to take on the InfraGard responsibilities alongside my work at Pearl Technology.”

The FBI Supervisory Special Agent that Dave works most closely with was also recognized with the FBI Professional of the Year Award.

Facts on InfraGard

• InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector with the mission of protecting the critical infrastructure of the United States and its citizens.
  • Critical infrastructure includes things like healthcare, transportation, banks, utilities, IT, food and agriculture, water supply, and emergency services.
  • 85% of our critical infrastructure is owned by private industry, not the government. Thus, it is crucial that the FBI shares intelligence and works side by side with the experts in private industry.
  • Today InfraGard has over 40,000 members that have been vetted and accepted by the FBI
  • InfraGard is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
• Peoria InfraGard was started by an FBI Supervisory Special Agent; Anthony Mini, Peoria’s President and CISO of Pearl Technology and the Commander of Cyber Ops for the Air National Guard; a retired FBI Agent who did the computer forensics immediately after 9/11, and Dave Johnson.
  • Dave took the lead on formalizing the relationship with the FBI, worked through all the government paperwork, recruiting members, and became the President of Peoria InfraGard.
  • Peoria InfraGard now has over 80 FBI-vetted members who are top experts in critical infrastructure in Central Illinois. The members include people from manufacturing, health care, banking, emergency management, the City of Peoria and surrounding cities and municipalities, education, law enforcement, and military.