January 14, 2013
From a wide-eyed student to an insightful alumni panelist,
Joseph Barone ’84Ed has seen both sides of the Alumni Insider’s
View…U.S. Capital Program.
“As
a student, I went on the trip in 1983, so I’ve really seen the
program grow,” said Barone, who today serves as Senior Information
Officer at The World Bank, an organization that provides financial
and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.
“Networking wasn’t as big back then as it is today, but the panels
were always extremely diverse. It opened my eyes to the number of
opportunities available to me and gave me the bug to come here and
live and work in Washington, DC.”
As a student at St. John’s, Barone discovered that Education was
his passion. He’d always enjoyed taking on mentorship roles in his
personal life, so his academic interests naturally gravitated
towards the teaching profession.
“To be honest, I was actually thinking about becoming a priest
when I first came to St. John’s,” he recalled. “But after my first
year, I felt that God was not calling me to that, and I came to
realize that Education was what I wanted to pursue
professionally.”
He added, “What St. John’s provided me was twofold: first, a
great educational foundation, and second, it further developed my
Catholic faith, which is what continues to guide my life.”
Thanks to his experience at the AIV…U.S. Capital Program, Barone
saw firsthand how he could turn his Education degree into any
number of fascinating careers.
“The diversity of panelists is what really impressed me,” he
said. “I met so many alumni who came out of St. John’s with one
particular degree, but turned it into a totally different and
unique career. For me, that reinforced the fact that you’re never
restricted by your major or your field of study. After all, there
are diverse backgrounds pretty much everywhere you look here in
DC.”
In his current role with The World Bank, Barone manages a team
that develops and evaluates training programs from scratch,
including e-learning programs and webinars. Some members of his
team work remotely from all across the globe, including Cameroon,
India and Ghana.
“We run training programs for 12,000-plus staff around the
world,” he said. “It can be challenging, but also very rewarding,
and I’m proud to say my focus throughout all my 23 years here has
always been in the area of learning. That mentorship component –
something I’ve always been interested in – is still a major part of
what I do.”
Barone has been living and working in DC since 1991 and
frequently participates as a panelist at the AIV…U.S. Capital
Program. During
this year’s program, he shared his personal stories and
anecdotes with students, encouraging them to pursue all of their
possibilities and to keep an open mind about relocating to DC.
“When I moved down here, I made it a priority to give back and
get involved with this program as a panelist,” he said. “It’s truly
a wonderful opportunity for students, and I can guarantee that in
10 or 15 years, these young men and women will look back on this
trip and say, ‘Wow, I am so glad I went on the U.S. Capital
Program.’”