[3][4][5] Teare's mother was a Den Leader and his father was a Cubmaster in the Boy Scouts of America.
After serving as Scout Executive of Thatcher Woods Area Council in Oak Park, Illinois, he joined the national BSA staff in 1990.
Appointed on 29 September 2012, Teare became the first non-European to serve as WOSM Secretary General, taking up the post on 1 January 2013.
In August 2013, Teare announced his intention to relocate the World Scout Bureau Central Office (WSB-CO) to Kuala Lumpur.
[8] The Bureau was first established in London, England in 1920, moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1959 and has been located in Geneva, Switzerland since 1968.