Rudynah “Dynah” Capone has 18 years of combined experience in public sector leadership, tri-media and public relations, marketing, communications, and transportation safety planning. She now works as the Program Manager Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her role is responsible for delivering local public agency outreach and communications, innovations, leadership, and workforce development for the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) and its various audiences in Louisiana.

Prior to migrating to the US, Dynah previously worked as a print journalist for 5 years, public speaking coach and entrepreneur for 3 years, and event producer & emcee for 8 years. She also served as a Project Coordinator of Cebu Visitors and Convention Bureau for a year where she was privileged to be the Media Bureau Chief for the 3rd Global Filipino Networking Convention in 2005 that was put together by National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA).

In early 2009, she left Cebu City to start a new life in Louisiana, USA. It took her six months before she landed on a part-time job as program assistant for Wildlife and Fisheries Reimbursement Programs at the South Central Planning and Development Commission (SCPDC) in September 2009. There, she helped process paperwork and surveys for fisherman who lost their business in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Rita and Gustav. In between those lull months of not having a job from May to October 2010 (prior to finding a real-world full-time position), she even took the initiative to grab some opportunities to work as a “background actress” in some of the Hollywood films (Battleship, Green Lantern and Revenge of the Bridesmaids, Assassination Games and The Power of Few). After 3 years of living in Napoleonville, LA, she earned her US citizenship in October 2012.

It was at SCPDC where she later earned a full-time job as a Transportation Planner. From November 2010 to May 2014, she served as the Regional Safety Coordinator for the South Central Regional Transportation Safety Coalition. She successful engaged in stakeholder collaboration and implementation of the Louisiana’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and mission of Destination Zero Deaths at the local level. Her tenure as the Safety Coordinator earned the region's safety coalition an Excellence Award in Regional Planning from the National Association of Developmental Organizations (NADO) as well as the National Roadway Safety Award from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) wherein she had the privilege to attend the Awards Ceremony in Washington D.C. along with the coalition chairman and SCPDC’s chief executive officer. The said award was for the first regional coalition to have adopted and implemented a regional safety plan based off of the statewide SHSP, which then was featured on the Noteworthy Practices Guide 2013.

Dynah’s work ethic has resulted in many milestones for the South Central region. She was instrumental in framing a model example of what a successful regional safety coordinator is especially in a male-dominated transportation world. Her unparalleled trait of taking initiative coupled with excellent skills in public relations and tri-media allowed her to sustain various efforts aimed at helping Louisiana reach Destination Zero Deaths. She shared her experiences in various conferences and summits, including the Utah-Nevada-Louisiana Safety Peer Exchange held in May 2013. Her reputation of proven coalition success was taken as a best practice, thereby inspiring regional and local teams to form the same coalition approach. Her success at the regional level was noticed in that she was offered a job at the state level through the Louisiana State University. Now working as Program Manager at the Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC), she continues to make a difference in the field of transportation safety planning, program coordination, communications and outreach, and innovations.

Within the Filipino-American community, Dynah shares her time of participating in major Fil-am occasions. In June 2015, she was the official emcee during the opening ceremony for Philippine Consulate General- New Orleans office. Also, she hosted the first Filipino-American History Month Gala Night held in New Orleans last October of 2016.

Dynah graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications at the University of San Jose Recoletos in her hometown, Cebu City, Philippines. She is happily married to Assumption High School World History teacher and football coach Drew Capone, and both enjoy parenting their First Grader son, Enzo.