Dara Castle
Area of Focus
Government contracting

Dara Castle

Government Contracting Leader, Washington D.C. Metro Market Leader
Dara Castle
Area of Focus
Government contracting

About Dara

Dara is RSM US LLP’s government contracting practice leader, a member of the markets advisory team and the market leader responsible for culture, growth and strategy in the Mid-Atlantic, including five offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. 


Experience

As practice leader, Dara is responsible for strategy, product and solutions development to drive growth and build high-performing teams to address the needs of the government contracting community. She leverages her deep experience serving government contractor clients to help RSM leaders deliver integrated solutions that combine extensive functional, industry and federal contracting experience tailored to the unique aspects of the government contracting ecosystem. Dara also collaborates with RSM national offices of risk management, general counsel and enterprise information technology to set RSM policy and procedures for regulated and sensitive data handling with serving government contracting clients.

As market leader, Dara is responsible for strategy development and execution, which includes market development and talent and client experiences across five Mid-Atlantic offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The area’s development strategy includes the convergence of industry, solutions and market relationships to grow and bring value to clients. As a second-generation native Washingtonian, Dara leverages her extensive network and long-standing relationships to advance RSM’s brand in the market and opportunities for the next generation of RSM leaders.

Dara has a passion for championing women’s advancement in business. During her tenure as the leader of the RSM women's initiative, STAR (Stewardship, Teamwork, Advancement and Retention of Women), she designed robust programming and education to aid RSM women in realizing their full potential and guiding RSM leaders in becoming their allies. This programming resulted in 10 times the increase in membership of this critical employee network group.

Outside of RSM, Dara is a competitive equestrian and travels the east coast to participate in show jumping competitions. She rode horses as a child and, after a long break, returned to her passion by way of an RSM client, now a friend.


Professional affiliations and designations

  • Certified public accountant, North Carolina
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, member
  • RSM's STAR ENG, member


Education

  • Bachelor of Science, accounting, North Carolina State University