Dina was born and raised in the Baltimore area, only child of Bill and the late Pat Vendetti.  Dina grew up in Ellicott City and attended Lutheran Schools.  She received her B.S. in Education from Concordia, New York, in 1985, her Master of Education from Towson University, MD, in 1994, and her doctorate in Organizational Leadership, Learning, and Innovation from Wilmington University in 2010.

For 34 years, Dina enjoyed a career in Lutheran Schools, serving as a teacher and as school principal.  She relocated to Dover in 2000 to serve as the founding principal of St. John’s Lutheran School.  For 19 years, St. John’s was affectionately known by many in the area as “The Best School in the Universe.”  Her time in Lutheran Schools ended with the closing of St. John’s School in Dover in 2019.

Having fallen in love with Central Delaware and not wishing to relocate, Dina began a new career journey as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce (CDCC).  In this role, she was responsible for producing the Chamber’s newspaper, any ads or press releases, and generally remaining in contact with the Chamber’s 850+ members.

In December of 2021, the CDCC president retired.  After an extensive search and interview process, Dina was promoted to CDCC President beginning in January of 2022.  The Chamber has been a marvelous place to land, and Dina thoroughly enjoys working in and for the community she is happy to call “home.”

Dina was the recipient of the “Dover’s Great Person,” award given by the Dover Post in 2006 and the recipient of “Small Business Person of the Year,” given by the CDCC in 2011. She is a graduate of the Leadership Central Delaware and Leadership Mastery programs and served as Honorary Mayor in 2017.  She was awarded The Seven Seals Award in 2022 for her strong support and volunteer involvement with the Dover Air Force base, where she served as an Honorary Commander.

Dina enjoys cooking, working in the yard, and days at the beach.  She loves to travel and dreams of living in Italy, but for now, she is thrilled to call Dover “my hometown.”