The story of Joe DioGuardi is the story of the promise of America.

The son of Italian immigrants whose industriousness and entrepreneurial spirit enabled them to live the American Dream, establishing a successful grocery store in the East Bronx, DioGuardi is no stranger to hard work or unflagging persistence.
In his own professional life, he has tackled serious problems in his community, the business arena and as a two-term member of Congress. Accountability has been the hallmark of DioGuardi’s distinguished professional career in accounting, public service, advocacy, education and corporate governance.

Joe DioGuardi graduated from Fordham University in 1962 and was hired at Arthur Andersen & Co., one of the first advocates of government fiscal responsibility. Adopting the family work ethic, he completed a rigorous three-year apprenticeship to become a Certified Public Accountant, achieving partner status after only a decade at the age of 31. Joe was persuaded by the Westchester business community to run for Congress in 1984. His campaign pulled off a surprise upset in a close race; he ran as a Republican in a district that was overwhelmingly Democratic with a size able minority population in Mount Vernon, Yonkers and New Rochelle.

The first practicing CPA ever elected to Congress, Joe arrived on Capitol Hill in 1985 with an agenda: Fix the gimmick-riddled financial practices of Congress and restore fiscal responsibility and public accountability to the taxpayers. Joe succeeded in introducing legislation to shore up financial weaknesses in government accounting, budgeting, financial management and reporting. Among his successes, he was the original author of the Chief Financial Officer and Federal Financial Reform Act (“the CFO Act”), signed ultimately by President George H. W. Bush in 1990. This act mandated the assignment of a CFO to each major department and agency of the U.S. government. During his two terms, Joe distinguished himself by finding bipartisan solutions to tough problems. He also earned valuable insight into Congressional budgeting, spending and reporting practices.

Joe left the House in 1989 following another hotly contested race. That same year, Joe established the non-profit organization Truth In Government to educate the public on the problem of rising, underreported national debt from Congress’ unchecked deficit spending. Through Joe’s tireless efforts as a speaker and author, Truth In Government informs citizens about the necessity of proper accounting and the devastating consequences of current government practices.

As a humanitarian, Joe has also dedicated nearly two decades to human rights activism for oppressed people, driving the issue of independence for 1.8 million Albanians in Kosova—an ethnic group to which DioGuardi can trace his roots. He also continues the work he initiated on behalf of African American war heroes from World War I and World War II, which has resulted in the awarding of nine Congressional Medals so far.

Joe resides in Ossining, New York, with his wife Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, a writer, foreign policy analyst, human rights activist and former book publisher. Joe’s son, John, is a counselor at the Phoenix House, a national nonprofit drug treatment organization on whose board Joe has served since 1972. His daughter Kara, now a nationally acclaimed songwriter and TV celebrity as a judge on the smash Fox hit “American Idol,” has been a potent and vocal supporter of her father.

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