Dino Teppara is the founder of the firm. He is an attorney and award-winning public affairs expert, with extensive policy, change management, and leadership experience working in federal and state government. Dino served as Chief of Staff to a senior member of Congress, developing a legislative agenda, building coalitions, managing more than 20 staff members in three offices, and helping to pass five bills into federal law. He oversaw the congressman's legislative and regulatory initiatives for the three committees he belonged to: the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Education and Workforce Committee. He also oversaw the congressman's media engagement, working with local, state, and federal reporters, organizing press conferences on Capitol Hill, writing op-eds and press releases, and arranging international congressional delegations (CODELS).
Dino served as an executive in a state gubernatorial cabinet agency, and in leadership roles in the U.S. Department of Defense (GS-15) and the U.S. Department of Education (GS-14). He also served nearly six years at the S.C. Department of Education, as agency spokesman, director of legislative and public affairs, and special education counsel. Dino has military experience, serving as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve for 10 years, and is Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certified. He is licensed to practice law in South Carolina, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the District of Columbia.
Dino attended the University of Nebraska on an athletic scholarship where he played NCAA Division One tennis for the Huskers, earning numerous academic awards. He received his law degree from Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington.