David L. Costello
Executive Director
David Costello brings more than 25 years of experience in business development, government affairs, public relations and association management experience to his work as Executive Director of the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition. David is a strategic business leader with a demonstrable track record of successful corporate and product positioning, market development, crisis communications, product creation and team building. He is known as a creative leader who drives a culture of excellence and customer satisfaction. David has hard-won expertise at devising and delivering successful business strategies that lead to long term, profitable results. In addition, David has been a registered Federal lobbyist for the past 25 years, with a primary focus on advocacy on behalf of the U.S. manufacturing defense industrial base.
In 2009, David co-founded the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC) www.warriorprotection.net, a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization. David grew the WPRC from original concept to a robust membership consisting of more than 70 leading companies in the organizational clothing and personal protective equipment space. David has led the effort to educate Congress on the need for sustained, base budget funding for the critical clothing, armor, footwear, and equipment that protects America’s men and women in uniform. Through his advocacy efforts, the WPRC has successfully achieved supporting congressional language in the Fiscal Years 2010 through 2025 National Defense Authorization Acts. As a result, the WPRC is now recognized within the Pentagon as the association that represents the warfighter equipment industry.
Prior to founding the WPRC, David had founded the GEN III Coalition, an American textile industry advocacy organization. The GEN III Coalition had a primary objective of ensuring full funding for the Army’s new Extended Cold Weather Clothing System-Generation III. This industry advocacy effort resulted in the complete funding of $1.2 billion towards the fulfillment of the 5-year GEN III contract, an advocacy effort that has had a tremendously positive impact on the combat efficacy of the deployed soldier as well as on the health of the U.S. textile industry.
David interacts regularly with key administrative and legislative offices for Appropriations, Armed Services, Small Business and Homeland Security Committees and has long-standing relationships with program managers at military development labs across the country.
Dan Sadowski
Managing Director
Dan Sadowski contributes to the holistic Federal government advocacy success of the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition as Director of Government Affairs. Dan has over a decade of experience executing creative and impactful trade association advocacy programs designed to achieve the policy goals of all member companies.
Prior to joining WPRC, Dan was responsible for the direction of Congressional relationship development for a large automotive trade association with over 6,500 member companies nationwide. Dan represented the shared policy goals of this diverse industry to drive positive outcomes and develop lasting relationships with key policymakers. Dan’s work developing working partnerships resulted in several legislative successes, including bills signed into law and policy language expanding opportunities for member companies to develop business.
Previously, Dan was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as liaison between state, local, and municipal governments and the U.S. Department of Labor. He began his career as an aide to New York State Governor George Pataki and Lt. Governor Mary O. Donohue. When not representing WPRC members on Capitol Hill, Dan can be found cheering on his favorite New York sports teams. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Stonehill College and resides in Massachusetts with his wife and two young sons.
Elise Costello
Public Affairs Associate
Elise Costello is a dedicated Public Affairs Associate at Rising Tide Associates, where she brings a keen analytical eye and a passion for impactful storytelling to every client engagement. A summa cum laude graduate of Trinity College with a B.A. in English, Elise pairs her strong academic foundation with hands-on experience in public relations and strategic communications.
Elise plays a vital role in drafting high-level communications materials—including press releases, op-eds, and policy briefs—that align with client goals and legislative priorities. She is adept at navigating complex policy landscapes, offering actionable insights through legislative tracking and in-depth research. Known for her strong organizational skills, Elise also manages media lists, editorial calendars, and reporting tools that help ensure the success of both client-facing events and long-term campaigns.
Before rejoining Rising Tide in 2025, Elise honed her skills in media relations, brand messaging, and cross-platform content creation at V2 Communications and the Bateman Agency, working with clients in both the B2B and B2C sectors. Her work in these roles sharpened her expertise in digital content strategy, event planning, and thought leadership initiatives.
Beyond her professional pursuits, Elise is an avid equestrian, having competed in eventing competitions for over seven years. Her diverse background reflects a deep commitment to communication, collaboration, and community engagement.
Jane Hunter
Business Development Maven
Based in Washington, D.C., Jane’s close proximity to and long-standing relationships with the key military developmental bases in the United States allows our clients unique insight into emerging government needs and provides necessary access to the key decision-makers within the DOD. Her concentrated technical expertise in business development, advanced product development, management of government research and development programs, and proposal writing adds tremendous value to our clients who are focused on the development of long-term business with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and for technically advanced companies from the outdoor industry.
Jane has with more than 20 years of experience in new market development, product development and marketing with high performance textiles and materials. She has managed the development of world-class technically advanced products that have created new levels of performance in their product categories. These materials currently serve a variety of end uses including outdoor performance apparel, extreme protective apparel, flame resistance, military, footwear, medical markets and electronic textiles. Jane is experienced in technical product development through all stages of the development process, from defining user needs, development of military specifications, implementing quality standards and the nuances of the initial fielding of new products.
Jane has used her technical expertise to help clients expand their business into the DOD and DHS textile market. She has created and executed business plans that are creating robust revenue streams for companies that are just entering the government market.
Jane also has significant expertise in helping clients to expand businesses thru government funded R&D programs. This unique expertise has helped clients to develop products and profitable businesses that would not have been possible without government support. Her work in this area includes development of the concept, presentation of the idea to the government, and securing funding for the program. Once these critical steps have been completed, she navigates the client thru required registrations necessary for supporting government work, assists with preparing complete responses to government solicitations including, but not limited, to BAAs and SBIRs, and then guides the client on best practices for managing the contract once awarded.
Highly respected in the industry, Jane has presented at several technical conferences and authored multiple articles published in professional journals. In addition, she has co-authored more that a dozen patents. Jane holds an M.S. in Textile Technology from the Institute of Textile Technology and currently lives with her family in Manassas, Virginia.
Ryan Dierker
Director of Government Affairs
Ryan joined Rising Tide Associates (RTA) after serving as Legislative Director/Senior Advisor to Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11), the capstone of a successful decade-long stint in Congress, which took him to both the House and the Senate side.
He covered several issue areas for Rep. Edwards and helped build out the legislative shop for his office, culminating in Rep. Edwards gaining a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee before the end of the first year of his freshman term. Ryan also spearheaded the development of a multi-billion-dollar disaster supplemental funding package for Western North Carolina and other disaster-impacted areas following Hurricane Helene’s devastation in NC-11, which was signed into law in December 2024.
Previously, he served as a Legislative Assistant for then-Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) for his last year in the Senate. Before joining Sen. Blunt’s office, Ryan served for three years as Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Mark Amodei (R-NV), leading the successful effort in 2021 to authorize the Morgan & Peace Silver Dollar numismatic program at the U.S. Mint.
Ryan got his start in Congress with his home member, then-Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02), working his way up from Staff Assistant to Senior Legislative Assistant over the course of four years. In his last year with Team Wenstrup, Ryan contributed to Rep. Wenstrup’s successful campaign for an open seat on the prestigious House Ways and Means Committee.
Having worked for three respected members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, Ryan brings wealth of knowledge and contacts in the federal spending space to Rising Tide, including a long and productive track record in the Community Project Funding process since it was first reintroduced in FY21.
Ryan is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Russian with from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Katelyn, and their daughter, Blair.