E2: VIP Café Show featuring Joe Schiavoni

The Honorable Joe Schiavoni is our special guest.  Joe was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio, before moving to Boardman, Ohio, where he attended Boardman High School.  He has three younger brothers.While in high school, he was a Golden Gloves boxer, as were his three brothers and his father before them. As a young man, he held jobs at Catullo Prime Meats, Fab-Art Steel, and Keffler Construction in the Mahoning Valley.Following high school, Joe attended Ohio University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He then attended law school at Capital University and received his Juris Doctor in 2004.After graduating from law school, Joe returned to Youngstown where he became a member of the family law firm. Since then, he has practiced worker's compensation law. He is licensed to practice law in both Ohio and West Virginia.Joe at one time helped legally represent Kelly Pavlik, the Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World, with whom he boxed as a child on the south side of Youngstown. Joe has long been an active member of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Mahoning Valley. He earned the "Big Brother of the Year" award in 2007. Through this organization, He later joined the Youngstown State University Senior Youth Mentorship steering committee. As a political novice, Joe was selected in 2008 to replace Senator John Boccieri, who had been elected to the United States House of Representatives. His selection surprised many, as he was only 28 years old at the time and had never held elected office. Nonetheless, Joe easily won the party nomination in 2010 and was elected in the general election with over 60% of the vote. In November 2011, Joe was named Assistant Minority Whip in the Senate but quickly rose to Assistant Minority Leader under Eric Kearney in January 2012.  He would serve in that capacity for two years until 2014 when he was unanimously elected by his colleagues to be Minority Leader. He was unopposed for re-election in 2014 to hold his seat in the Senate. Due to term limits, Joe cannot run for reelection in 2018.  On November 3, 2020, Joe Schiavoni was elected to serve as a Judge in the Mahoning County Court System.