Dara Castle
Area of Focus
Government contracting

Dara Castle

Government Contracting Leader, Mid-Atlantic Market Leader
Dara Castle
Area of Focus
Government contracting

About Dara

Dara is the market leader of the Mid-Atlantic area offices (McLean, Washington D.C., Gaithersburg, Richmond, Baltimore), and is the national leader of RSM’s government contracting practice. As the market leader, she is responsible for the culture, growth and strategy of the five area offices, as well as developing our employees to have deep industry expertise and to be first choice advisors. Leading this practice includes working with closely held, private equity backed and publicly traded entities in the market to deliver the power of being understood®.


Experience

In her government contracting practice leadership role, Dara leads teams across audit, tax and consulting as advisors to government contractors across a variety of industries, customer bases and organizational structures. She draws upon the vast resources of RSM to design teams and services that bring value to government contractor clients, leveraging RSM’s deep knowledge, experience and capabilities in serving this complex and dynamic industry.

Dara recently was appointed as Board Member with the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC). The NVTC is a prominent trade association representing the tech industry in the region. It impacts government contractors by providing networking opportunities, advocating for favorable policies, and offering resources tailored to their specific needs, given Northern Virginia's status as a significant hub for government contracting.

During Dara’s tenure she was the leader of RSM’s Women’s Initiative. During that time, she focused on the retention and advancement of RSM women by leading the firm’s strategy and development of programs and initiatives that addressed gender diversity in our workplace, workforce, community and marketplace. Today, she continues to be an ally to women in RSM and the business community and contributes as an advisor to RSM’s ongoing work on diversity and inclusion.


Professional affiliations and designations

 

  • Association for Corporate Growth, National Capital Chapter Board, past president
  • Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, past board member
  • The Small and Emerging Contractors Advisory Forum, past board member
  • Professional Services Council
  • Northern Virginia Technology Council, Board Member
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
  • The Maryland Association of CPAs

 


Education

  • Bachelor of Science, accounting, North Carolina State University