Meet Joe Severino

Campaign Background

Joseph (Joe) Severino, a resident of Lake Forest and Greek Orthodox Christian, is happily married to wife Nichole for 18 years. Together they have raised five children (Carmen, Joey, Alexa, Isabella, Arianna). Joe recently celebrated his 26^th year in business as a hospitality service leader and is proud to have employed thousands of individuals over his career. The call to service is natural for Joe. In fact, while running his business, Joe went to law school and passed the California “Baby” bar exam for first year law students. Still looking to accomplish more, Joe applied and was accepted to Harvard Business School’s prestigious OPM program. There he studied and graduated with 177 global leaders representing 38 countries. His greatest passion is giving back to the community. Joe started his company with a $1,000 loan from his father and has expertly navigated opportunities. Joe’s mission is to take that experience and create similar opportunities in the district. Joe understands the American dream and his grandparents were immigrants from Greece and Italy, and his father was a Teamster union business organizer for 30 years.

Joe Severino

Candidate (I)

Illinois 10th Congressional District

Early life

Growing up in Cicero, Illinois, Joe Severino experienced firsthand the strains divorce can put on a family. Estranged from his father for six years, Joe watched his mother struggle through two jobs to put food on the table for him and his three siblings. The family strain and neighborhood environment were tough. Joe was consistently bullied and beaten up until he got involved in boxing and learned to stick up for himself. Without his mother’s guidance at home, Joe found solace roaming the streets and was no stranger to trouble. He was even a victim of gun violence during a robbery. Eventually started to fight for the Chicago Golden Gloves. Through this excellent organization and dedicated mentorship, Joe turned his life around. Joe even reconnected with his father and realized how hard it was being raised by a single parent. Today, Joe is a strong advocate for keeping families together, and he is a strong supporter of youth mentorship and coaching. It is through his own personal experience that Joe started his children’s foundation in 2013.

Philanthropy

Joe Severino is the founder of the Park Ridge Knights, a children’s foundation that he personally sponsors. After seeing a prejudice and failure in leadership around children, he started his foundation where leadership and community merge. Joe partners with professional sports figures to manage children sports teams and create young leaders. Both his students and the program have seen many great successes. His program allows children from all demographic and geographic areas the opportunity to have access to the best coaching, equipment, and guidance available. Parents who have the means are asked to contribute directly to the local children’s hospital in return for a great experience with the program. Any family that is unable to make a donation has no obligation to contribute. Joe does not collect any salary and he does not claim this foundation for tax purposes. 100% of this foundation goes directly to serving the children.

Joe also donated a year of complimentary hospitality services to Shriners Children’s Hospital in Chicago and continually contributes to St. Jude’s, Breast Cancer Awareness, Replace the Lace (Pediatric Cancer), local youth sports programs, and K-12 educational institutions.

After contemplating running for office, Joe decided to focus on the human side and run as an independent. The smartest way to determine any position and decide from a human perspective is by listening to both sides and determining what is best for everyone. Joe has the heart and passion to help people, and he comes from a family ethic of giving first and then looking to meet their own needs.